An essential function of an organisation is to maintain compliance with its industry standards. Every industry has set rules and regulations that companies must adhere to for security and privacy needs. From the financial sector to the healthcare sector and many more, each has established guidelines for businesses to follow for data management regarding privacy and ethics.
Compliance certification is necessary for ensuring and maintaining compliance with best practices. As technology and cloud computing, like a cloud telephone system, continues to advance, many industries making services more convenient and accessible to consumers are facing many challenges. Cyber-security is a paramount concern for businesses across the globe, but maintaining effective measures that comply with regulations is daunting.
Compliance Certification
For a business to remain operational, compliance certification is required. A certification proves to industry regulators and consumers that a company is good to do business with, instilling consumers confidence and solidifying a businesss reputation. Specific standards are set for every industry that is nationally and internationally accepted, from banking to healthcare, insurance, retail, and more. So, what are compliance certifications?
What Are They?
Compliance certifications assure an individual or organisation has policies and measures that meet all the requirements of a given certification program. These certifications all have specific requirements that vary depending on the industry and the location of provided services. Standard compliance certifications include HIPAA for healthcare, ISO 9001 & ISO 27001 for international standards, and CIPP for data privacy.
Regulations are put in place by various entities, including government organisations like the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). For financial institutions, industry regulations come from organisations like the FCA, PRA, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Cyber-security compliance is one of the most significant types, but the list of regulations is never-ending. Regulations are continually changing and being added to as new issues arise with advancements in technology and markets.
Why Are They Required?
The overall need for an organisations compliance certification is to remain in business by assuring regulators and consumers that they are a safe business, but how do these certifications do that? A compliance certification ensures that a company has gone through rigorous processes that confirm its compliance with regulations. These processes are extensive and take significant amounts of time and effort.
Companies must develop policies and operations that ensure proper data management. These developments must be audited by independent third-party services that determine compliance with the regulations. These processes take into account every aspect of an organisation, from protocols and security measures to the individual performance of employees. Achieving compliance certifications is essential for businesses but comes with many challenges.
Challenges & Solutions
Compliance certification presents organisations with various challenges. Attempting to implement and maintain adequate strategies in-house is problematic because it requires access to necessary resources that not all businesses have.
Fortunately, plenty of solutions for these obstacles are highly beneficial for many reasons.
Compliance Challenges
The most common compliance challenges for companies come from a need for more resources to implement complex processes for meeting regulations and keeping them up to date. Independent attempts to earn certifications are costly financially and time-consuming. Getting them on your own can take a few months to six months.
Even once you have received a certification, maintaining processes that continually meet compliance standards is challenging. The proper tests must be in place to monitor and identify performance issues or vulnerabilities, which requires expertise that an in-house department may not have.
The continued advancement of technology and movement to cloud computing present a significant challenge as cyber-security compliance becomes more complicated. Implementing things like a cloud telephone system requires extensive security measures to ensure the privacy and security of the organisation and its clients data. Continuous monitoring and updates are essential for these ever-changing fields but require expertise to be effective in compliance and decrease costs.
Solutions
Outsourcing a third-party service to maintain compliance is the most beneficial solution for businesses struggling with these challenges. Compliance as a service simplifies the entire process, is customisable and provides automatic updates. Third-party vendors offer various IT services, including getting compliance certifications and implementing essential strategies and techniques for ensuring continuous compliance as regulations and industries evolve.
Benefits of Compliance & Compliance Services
The main benefit of compliance and compliance services is remaining a viable business, but there is a wide range of specific benefits that come from them. These benefits include:
- Assurance To Clients, Customers & Partners
- Automated Processes & Reminders
- Continuous & Updated Compliance Measures
- Effective Marketing Tool
- Enhanced Business Performance
- Enhances & Simplifies Compliance Audits
- Improves Security & Efficiency
- Insight into Regulations & Effectiveness of Efforts
- Proactive & Preventative Measures
- Raises Security Awareness & Ensures Best Practices
- Real-Time Compliance Monitoring & Reports
- Reduced Costs of Risk Management & Compliance
Optimising IT Compliance Solutions
Optimising IT offers various IT services that enhance businesses and ensure the following of best practices regardless of industry. Our services provide experts with extensive experience in all sectors, from healthcare and insurance to banking and financial services.
We are an industry-leading provider of IT support and consultancy services, including compliance services. We focus our IT support services on providing tailored solutions for each client to ensure maximum benefits are delivered. Our cybersecurity and managed IT services are the most advantageous for clients looking for compliance services.
Our relevant and specific compliance services at Optimising IT include:
- Cyber-Security Compliance Certification
- Data Privacy Consultancy
- Information Security Management
- Cyber-Security Audits & Risk Assessments
Compliance certification is a vital component of an organisation, but it can be easy to implement and maintain. At Optimising IT, we are committed to providing services that, at their core, are reliant on trust, simplicity, and respect. We consider your success our own and focus significantly on creating partnerships with our collaborative clients versus transactional relationships. We can tailor flexible services to your business needs for growth and success. Check out our IT support and consultancy services.
