Online Business Systems (Online) was wasting hundreds of man-hours each year on compliance engagements, and they struggled to find a smooth workflow for their assessments. Every engagement was too complicated, and they labored to coordinate efforts internally and with clients.
Until they found TCT Portal.
Our latest case study reveals the frustrating challenges of a highly experienced assessment firm as it looked for a better way to manage compliance engagements. Online’s certified qualified security assessors (QSAs) have performed hundreds of payment card industry (PCI) assessments and PCI gap assessments. Yet, they were feeling stymied by the tools they were using to run compliance engagements.
TCT Portal was their software solution of choice, and the results have been night and day.
Online’s Clunky Client Engagements
Online Business Systems was using spreadsheets and Word documents to manage and track their compliance engagements with clients. They took notes in Microsoft Excel then manually and painstakingly transferred them into Word to create the report. Often, that meant going through the document without confidently knowing what was complete and what wasn’t complete. There was constant checking and rechecking to make sure everything was completed appropriately.
Online’s principal consultant Sherri Collis said, “What our assessors really wanted was a way to take their notes—and, as a process of taking their notes, be able to have the notes generate the actual final report.”
Related: Why Compliance Auditors Say TCT Portal Is a Lifesaver
More than anything, Online’s assessors wanted to streamline the compliance assessment process. That became especially challenging when an engagement required multiple assessors in disparate locations. Excel and Word don’t play well when you have multiple people who need access to the same file at the same time.
“It’s hard to know where you really stand,” Sherri said. “How do you know you’re ready for QA, and which version of the document is the right one?”
From time to time, Online’s development team tried to write applications that would help them streamline their compliance engagements, but they couldn’t make it work over the long term. The program always required too much maintenance and ongoing updates. “Maybe it’s great today,” Sherri said, “but it won’t be great when the next standard comes out. It’ll be a deprecated tool, because you don’t have dedicated staff who are able to stop doing their job to update the program.”
The firm’s homegrown efforts proved to be a waste of valuable time and internal resources.
What Did TCT Portal Do?
Online Business Systems turned to TCT Portal compliance software to solve their biggest challenges. You can see the details in our case study about the results they saw, but here’s the spoiler version:
- Hundreds of man-hours recovered
- More efficient workflows
- Improved team collaboration
- Faster and easier reporting
- More profitable engagements
“TCT has been such a lifesaver for us, because it’s a huge timesaver,” Sherri said. “Once you start using TCT Portal, you don’t want to use anything else, because it’s so easy.”
Struggling to manage your compliance engagements better? TCT’s compliance management software helps streamline the compliance assessment process, so you can focus on helping your clients succeed—not wrestling with substandard tools and approaches.
