Solutions for Government, Risk, Compliance (GRC): Automation is the trump card

While companies want to avoid penalties for data protection violations and breaches of compliance requirements as much as possible, the pressure on departments is growing. Modern software solutions are needed to meet the obligations to identify data efficiently and make it available for further processing. Especially the automation of complex processes plays a crucial role. Exterro, a provider of legal GRC software solutions, identifies three developments for 2023 that will become central for companies in terms of legal and compliance issues.

1. Legal processes are increasingly being handled in-house. Complying with data protection regulations and fulfilling the legally required duty to provide information can quickly run into money - especially when companies are dependent on external lawyers and experts. To reduce expenses, more and more companies are turning to performing legal and compliance processes themselves with automated GRC (governance, risk and compliance) software. With user-friendly solutions and visual dashboards, this enables even non-legal employees, such as those in the HR department, to handle these legal issues. For GRC software vendors, this trend means that they need to focus more on checks and balances to ensure that the system detects and reports potential violations.
2. Automated software helps with compliance with the EU GDPR. Many of the solutions that have been in use since the introduction of the GDPR 2018 are in need of a general overhaul, if not replacement. Even if they served well in the early days, the majority of them rely on tedious manual processes. Now, nearly five years after launch, companies will increasingly turn to new, automated solutions that manage accumulated data assets more efficiently. Companies need not fear any changes to the basic framework of the GDPR in this regard; there is no foreseeable political will to make changes to the basic regulation.
3. High number of information requests overloads companies. The massive increase in data disclosure requests has caught many companies off guard. Consumers' right to access their personal data can become a major challenge for HR departments without automated DSAR (Data Subject Access Request) solutions. The remedy is eDiscovery software that identifies all personal data and makes it available in a report.

"We expect to see an increase in solutions built on the concept of privacy-by-design in the coming quarters. The development of these tools takes into account technical data protection and relevant regulations from the very beginning," explains Istvan Puskas, Director Sales DACH Corporate at Exterro. "Straightforward software to automate processes is needed because proactive data protection must be a high priority with the multiple touchpoints between companies and their solution users."

Source and further information: Exterro