Here’s Why IRM Solutions Are Superior to Archaic GRC Technology

Gartner clients are consistently searching for ways to improve their risk management programs to deliver greater value to the enterprise. Whether it is to bolster performance in support of new digital transformation efforts or to reduce spend associated with bloated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) bureaucracies, the need for better solutions is real. That’s why Gartner has been promoting integrated risk management (IRM) solutions for the past 4 years. As a result, companies and organizations across the globe are achieving better performance and growth.

As evidence of the IRM benefits, Deloitte recently released its 2019 Risk Management Survey and the results are telling. According to the survey respondents, IRM solutions are essential to fueling higher levels of growth. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

An integrated approach to risk eschews siloed solutions and aims to develop both an enterprise-wide view of risk tied to the attainment of key corporate objectives, and enterprisewide methods of identifying, assessing, monitoring, and mitigating risks. Among organizations that achieve a CAGR of over 5 percent, about one-third characterize their risk programs as highly integrated while only about one-fifth of those with a CAGR under 5 percent characterize their programs as such.

Unfortunately, GRC technology limits an organization’s ability to move beyond a siloed approach because it remains rooted in myopic solutions designed for individual risk and compliance programs. Gartner sees legacy GRC technology providers evolving their product sets to link three primary risk management program areas – enterprise, operational and IT/cybersecurity (see figure below). By doing so, technology can enable better visibility and understanding of the dynamic set of risks across the entire organization.