Know what the definition of insanity is? It’s constantly doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I’d like to suggest another definition: it’s insane to do the same thing over and over, when you don’t need to do it!
Most of my clients have multiple standards to comply with, and most of those standards overlap with each other. HIPAA requires many of the same items that PCI requires. Wouldn’t it be great if you could kill two birds with one stone? If you’re using Stone Age software tools to manage and track compliance, it’s not possible. You’re stuck repeating your work multiple times.
Software tools like Microsoft Excel and Word are outdated and clunky. Compliance teams that rely on them may as well be stuck in the Stone Age.
TCT Portal is an end-to-end compliance software platform that eliminates your redundancies and simplifies your entire compliance management process. It’s the Digital Age answer to your Stone Age problem.
Have multiple standards to comply with? Here’s how TCT Portal eliminates your redundancies.
Are Multiple Standards Multiplying Your Headaches?
Let’s say you’re subject to PCI and HIPAA. You tackle HIPAA first, because it’s easier and you’ll be able to get it out of the way sooner. After a solid two months of gathering evidence, checking all the boxes and going back and forth with the compliance assessment firm, you can finally catch your breath. Now you attack PCI.
As you dig into PCI’s requirements, you begin to realize you’re using some of the same evidence you used for HIPAA. But you have two separate file structures and two different assessment firms—one for each certification. Even though you can reuse some files for both standards, you’re still doubling your efforts, because you have to duplicate your tracking and duplicate your files.
Not only does that create redundant effort, it introduces fragility into framework that you’re working in. The more you duplicate your efforts, the easier it is for something to slip through the cracks. When you introduce redundancies into a system, you’re tempting fate. At some point, one of your duplicated files will get lost, or you’ll swear you did a certain task twice. Your tracking spreadsheets become unwieldy and bloated.
You’re now doing twice the work but you’re certainly not twice as effective!
Handpicked related content: The Danger of Using Spreadsheets to Track Compliance
If you’re using Stone Age technology, you don’t have any other choice. Redundancies can’t be avoided, and your framework has built-in risks. It’s inherent in the system.
Companies that use TCT Portal compliance software don’t have that problem. As soon as you start using TCT Portal, you can take advantage of certification synergies that are already mapped. In our example above, the requirements that overlap between PCI and HIPAA are connected to each other in the background. Since PCI is the more prescriptive track, it’s set as the primary one. Evidence in the PCI track maps to its counterpart items on the HIPAA track.
Then, when you start working on HIPAA, you only need to deal with the remaining open items. Once you’re finished with PCI, import elements into the HIPAA track. Just answer everything once, gaining synergy, while keeping the tracks and evidence segregated under each compliance standard.
Dealing with Standards Updates
There’s also the painful process of manually updating a change to standards. If you’re using traditional software tools, be ready now: PCI is slated to go from 3.2.1 to 4.0 in 2020. The coming changes to PCI will also ripple downstream to the mappings between PCI and other standards.
In addition to your normal annual compliance tasks, you’ll have to go into your tracking spreadsheets and manually rewrite all of those mappings you had painstakingly already figured out. That means pulling all the requirements for the updated standard and going through them one-by-one to figure out how and where the mappings have changed (if at all). It also means gutting your storage system for storage of compliance evidence.
TCT clients never have to deal with that. TCT Portal will automatically update the mappings for you and store things in alignment with requirements as the standard is updated.
See It for Yourself!
Tired of the redundancies inherent in Stone Age compliance management tools? TCT Portal compliance software gives you the power to manage and track your compliance efforts while eliminating redundancies left and right. Imagine running a compliance cycle that actually flows smoothly.
TCT Portal is the last tool that you’ll need for compliance. But don’t take our word for it—get your personalized demo and see for yourself.
