Risk Management Software Is All About Securely Managing It, Security and Compliance With One Integrated Solution By Shauvik Roy, Technical Content Writer at SelectHub
Risk management helps organizations detect and mitigate enterprise risks and get a 360-degree view of corporate security, system governance and compliance. It allows users to monitor a continuous feed of operational data, connected devices and user accounts to respond to vulnerabilities in real time. You can leverage built-in dashboards to index and quarantine compromised data. It helps run reports on detected breaches, identify risk trends, predict threat behavior and create data visualizations to streamline risk remediation strategies.
This guide will give you a general overview of what to expect before beginning your software selection journey. Next, it will provide a rundown of key features and benefits, followed by a pricing guide and comparison strategy. To finish things, we’ll leave you with a few essential questions to consider while identifying which risk management software would be suitable for your needs.
Executive Summary
- Risk management software streamlines the detection and remediation of operational risks and third-party vulnerabilities.
- It helps maintain compliance with various state and federal regulations.
- Automated risk mitigation workflows and powerful reporting capabilities eliminate the stress and paperwork associated with risk and compliance management, allowing organizations to focus more on their primary services.
What This Guide Covers: What Is Risk Management Software?
Risk management software is an enterprise-grade solution that uses robust data analysis tools, artificial intelligence and guided workflows to track system vulnerabilities in real time. You can get complete visibility over your IT and cloud infrastructure, web applications and endpoint security. The platform indexes all security information to provide you with a single source of truth.
Maintain an up-to-date infrastructure inventory with continuous surveillance and file integrity monitoring. You can manage assets, set remediation priorities, check for vulnerabilities and quarantine compromised data. A real-time risk data feed allows you to prioritize critical threats and choose an appropriate remediation response.
Large organizations deal with multiple endpoint devices daily. Risk management software can help maintain a complete inventory of foreign devices and external vendors to check for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and third-party risks. Enterprise risk management (ERM) software can check the company’s compliance posture and implement it across the system to avoid conflicts with IT policies, mandates and data protection laws.
In addition, risk management software lets you run security assessments and compliance reports for risk owners and shareholders. Carry out customized security audits to benchmark your security position and take remedial action if necessary. Most vendors allow you to build your application with an API-based architecture or integrate with various third-party applications.
In the last decade, many industries have switched to a paperless environment, embracing daily risks. According to Mordor Intelligence, the risk analytics market is estimated to reach an approximate value of $52.33 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 14%.
However, with increased usage of risk management software, there’s a lot to unpack. What remains unaffected is the software’s ability to give you a comprehensive view of your risk and compliance position, regardless of what industry you’re in.
Primary Benefits
Now that we have a general idea of what the software does, it’s time to discuss some of the primary benefits that make it a worthwhile investment. Visit the list of products in our product directory to see industry-specific benefits provided by particular risk management solutions.
Timely Risk Remediation
Risk management software will be your vanguard against any potential threats and vulnerabilities. It acts as an early warning system, equipped with automated workflows and remediation measures to provide a hassle-free risk mitigation experience. You can run compliance audits and security reports based on your requirements and always have the necessary information at your disposal to make risk-aware decisions.
Always Have Someone Available During Emergencies
Establish clear-cut risk ownership throughout your organization. Your risk owners will be the first responders to any breaches, threats or workplace incidents. Built-in workflows, along with your company guidelines, should allow them to deal with vulnerabilities effectively.
Protect Core Functions
You can assign risk scores to all recorded threats, endpoint devices, user accounts and third-party vendors.
Configure your risk prioritization procedure to work in tandem with recorded risk scores. This way, the software will always prioritize your critical processes in case of risk incidents.
Get Real-time Updates on All Company Assets
Risk management software provides a real-time inventory of existing IT infrastructure, endpoint devices and web applications. You can track every item's security and compliance posture without breaking a sweat.
Increase Risk Awareness
Working in close proximity to risk automatically creates a risk-aware working environment. Along with regular training, risk consciousness makes it easier for employees to identify risk indicators and authorize the best course of action.
Key Features & Functionality
Risk Identification | Risk identification is step one in your risk management journey. Good platforms will do all the heavy lifting for you, thoroughly analyzing system vulnerabilities and third-party risks across all operational domains. As you encounter newer and more advanced threats, you can keep adding definitions to the risk dictionary for a more secure future. |
Risk Assessment | This feature allows risk owners to track and analyze business processes in real time. Based on their evaluations, you can prepare a register of critical risk data. Assign risk scores to classify known vulnerabilities. |
Risk Prioritization | The ability to single out critical threats can be crucial to agencies dealing with a large number of risks daily. You can assign risk ratings based on their potential impact on your business. You can secure all critical processes when combined with a repository of known risk controls, risk thresholds and remediation responses. |
Reporting | Most risk management solutions come equipped with tried and tested reports on data governance, compliance and system vulnerabilities. Back up your decisions with actionable business intelligence insights and data visualization tools. |
Threat Visibility | With a built-in dashboard, you get unrestricted access to the entire platform. You can track active risks in real time, evaluate risk data, configure workflows and get regular alerts. |
Risk Auditing | Built-in auditing capabilities can provide risk owners with a competitive edge. Benchmark your organization’s performance, track audits, document issues and measure the efficiency of specific remediation strategies. Implement a standardized risk reporting language with preconfigured templates and combine it with automated reporting and evidence gathering to nurture a risk-aware work environment. |
Compliance | Compliance is one of the most sought-after features of risk management software. You can set up a compliance framework to detect and remedy failures automatically. Implement deficiency controls wherever applicable, and never worry about compliance another day in your life. |
Risk Monitoring | You can set up independent workflows and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) of critical business processes. |
Software Comparison Strategy
With numerous risk management solutions available in the market, conducting a software comparison can become overwhelming. Therefore, we strongly recommend having a requirements list in hand to identify the perfect risk management software.
First, you have to consider what deployment mode is preferable to your organization — an on-premise or a cloud-based solution.
There are specific risk management platforms that specialize in certain industries. If possible, get recommendations from within the industry. Ask around to get a feel of what’s good and what exactly makes it tick.
Another vital consideration is data migration and integration support. Organizations switching from an existing platform might need help to move large amounts of data. Also, the ability to retain any previous integrations with third-party applications can be a significant selling point.
Finally, if your company needs to comply with specific regulations or access certain reporting standards like FERC regulations or GDPR control deficiencies, you’ll have to temper your shortlist accordingly.
We can’t point you to particular risk management software and guarantee it’ll be a good match. Keep your shortlist handy, and your requirements list close; before long, you’ll be able to find the perfect fit.
Cost & Pricing Considerations
Two significant factors that determine software pricing are your organization’s size and preferred deployment option.
On-premise deployments often involve additional charges, including installation, regular maintenance and upgrades. On the other hand, the pricing of cloud-based software depends on the total number of authorized users.
A few more factors can influence the cost of risk management software:
- Add-on services, including data migration, onboarding and implementation.
- Some vendors offer on-site product training services for a fee.
Questions To Ask
Now that you have a basic idea about risk management software, we’ll recommend a few questions to ask yourself and software vendors to communicate your requirements clearly.
Here are a few internal questions to help define your expectations:
- What risks are of immediate concern to our industry?
- What’s our total budget?
- Do we need global accessibility?
- Which existing applications do we need to integrate with, if any?
- What regulatory requirements do we need to comply with?
Use these questions to jump-start a conversation with vendors:
- What kind of customer service does the vendor provide? What are the support timings?
- Does the software have any industrial specializations?
- Does the vendor offer data migration services? Does it incur additional charges?
- What kind of compliance coverage can we expect from the software?
- What’s the vendor’s security and encryption posture?
In Conclusion
In the 21st century, organizations have to deal with all sorts of risks and vulnerabilities on a daily basis. Selecting the right risk management software can save you from massive financial losses in the future. So, it’s okay to take some time to figure out your exact requirements and shape your expectations accordingly. We hope this guide will help you find the perfect match for your risk management needs.
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