4 Common IT Compliance Mistakes Your Department Is Likely Overlooking
With emerging data security and privacy laws making an impact on a global scale (like GDPR and CCPA), many businesses are beginning to closely scrutinize their IT processes to make sure they’re in compliance. We’re willing to bet that your IT department has more on its plate than keeping up with the latest regulations, so we compiled a list of four common IT compliance mistakes your department is likely overlooking. Catching these IT compliance mistakes early can save you from steep fines, reputational damage, and operational headaches down the road.
IT Compliance Mistakes Start with Skipping Internal Audits
Your business has a long list of responsibilities and, on a day-to-day basis, checking for IT compliance mistakes probably isn’t at the top of your list. However, far too many companies make the mistake of waiting for a regulatory audit to come around before they take a close look at their policies and procedures. Doing so is sure to cost you.
If you wait until a regulatory audit happens, you’ve put it off for too long. You should build an internal audit into your schedule on a routine basis, ensuring that you’re aware of issues far in advance of any regulatory audit so you can work through them before they become a threat to your business. By conducting routine audits, you’ll be ready when a professional regulator makes observations or asks questions—and you’ll catch many of your IT compliance mistakes before anyone else does.
Failing to Analyze Business Events
Getting a complaint, laying off an employee, a missing document—individually, these seem like small, independent issues. Yet looking at them all together may help you realize that they’re connected. As a business, it’s important that you analyze business events and work to connect the dots, recognizing when small events could reveal a bigger problem. Overlooking these patterns is one of the more subtle IT compliance mistakes a company can make.
You can liken this process to looking for a fire when you see smoke, and it plays a big part in making sure you aren’t blindsided by issues when a regulatory officer comes along.
Relying on IT Compliance Policy Templates
These days, you can find a template for just about every document your business could ever need. For a startup, using one of these templates can feel like a huge time- and money-saver. However, in the long run, these templates are sure to cause problems. If your policies and procedures are based on a template rather than written under the guidance of an advisor (and legal professional), your business is setting itself up for issues—and this is one of the most overlooked IT compliance mistakes of all.
Customized compliance policies are crucial, especially as your business grows. If you haven’t already consulted an advisor, pencil it into your schedule. Any template-based procedures or policies need to be closely scrutinized to ensure they actually work for your business. Moreover, all of your policies—custom-written or not—should be reviewed and updated regularly as your needs change.
Ignoring the Impact on Business Value
If you have any plans for your company to be sold or acquired, you simply cannot overlook the connection between compliance problems and business value. While it may be forgotten during early negotiations, any due diligence process is sure to reveal compliance problems, and they can have a far-reaching impact on the valuation of your business and your ability to sell it. In other words, IT compliance mistakes don’t just create regulatory risk—they can directly reduce what your company is worth.
How to Avoid These IT Compliance Mistakes
So, are you making any of these common IT compliance mistakes? The good news is that every one of them is preventable with the right systems, routine reviews, and expert guidance in place. The right IT compliance services can help make sure you’re on the right track. ThrottleNet can ensure your business is in compliance with the latest standards, providing peace of mind and lasting business security. Reach out to us today to learn more about protecting your organization from costly IT compliance mistakes.
