GRC Plattforms Supported
Stratlane’s audit teams can utilize the API connectivity of many leading GRC Platforms. This helps speed up audits in the field of SOC 2 as well als ISO standard audits (e.g. ISO 27001). This a great benefit for clients as this reduces the necessary effort to validate that policies and controls are actually operational.
GRC Platforms
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platforms centralize an organization’s strategy to manage IT risks, meet regulatory requirements, and align operations with business goals. Instead of using fragmented spreadsheets, these tools offer a unified framework to automate complex security and legal workflows.
Key Advantages of GRC Platforms
- Centralized Data: Eliminates siloed information by storing all policies, risks, and controls in one single source of truth.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Replaces static annual spreadsheets with continuous automated tracking of your security posture.
- Regulatory Compliance: Simplifies audits for multiple overlapping frameworks (like ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, or NIS2) through cross-mapping.
- Cost Efficiency: Reduces hours spent on manual evidence collection, questionnaire sending, and report generation through automation.
- Proactive Risk Management: Uses automated alerts to flag vulnerabilities, outdated policies, or failing controls before an incident occurs.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Provides executive dashboards and transparent metrics to help leadership understand actual compliance ROI.
Why do GRC Platforms reduce audit effort
GRC platforms drastically reduce the cost of ISO 27001 certification by minimizing the immense manual effort involved in preparing for and conducting the audit. Since auditors bill based on time spent and internal teams are tied up in the process, efficiency leads directly to financial savings.
Why GRC platforms reduce audit costs:
- Automated evidence gathering: The platform continuously collects security evidence (e.g., records of employee training or password policies) in the background, saving hundreds of hours of manual data collection.
- Reduced auditor presence: External auditors are granted targeted read-only access to the GRC dashboard. With all documents neatly organized, the time spent on costly on-site audits is drastically reduced.
- Reusing controls (cross-mapping): Security measures implemented once are automatically applied to other frameworks (such as SOC 2 or TISAX), eliminating duplicate work and downstream costs.
- No need for external consultants: Pre-built policy templates and step-by-step guides replace expensive external ISO 27001 consultants.
- Avoiding audit failures: The system automatically tracks outstanding tasks and obligations. You can identify gaps before the actual audit, avoiding costly follow-up audits caused by “major non-conformities.”
Which GRC Platforms do exist?
The GRC Platform industry offers global and regional solutions:
- Active Mind
- ComplianceDesk
- CWA
- dastra
- devecaGRC
- DataGuard
- EQS
- GRC-cockpit
- Hitguard
- HitScout
- Kertos
- IO (ISMS.online)
- LogicGate
- MCC My Compliance Center
- MetricStream
- Microsoft Purview Audit
- NIS2 Autopilot
- OpenGRC
- Otris
- SAS Risk Management
- Schleupen
- Scytale
- ServiceNow
- SAI360
- SimpleAct
- SwissGRC
- TrustSpace
- Vanta
- vantaris
- workiva
GRC Platforms help automate
1. Identity and Access Management (Access Control)
- MFA Status (Multi-Factor Authentication): Automated verification via identity services such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), or Okta. Evidence immediately demonstrates to the auditor that MFA is enforced for all active accounts.
- Deactivation of accounts for former employees: The GRC platform automatically compares the HR database (e.g., Personio, BambooHR) with active IT systems. It proves that access was blocked following the end of employment. Review of privileged accounts (admin rights): Automated reports detailing which users hold administrative rights and when these accounts were last used.
2. Cloud and Infrastructure Security (Infrastructure & Network Security)
- Encryption status (Encryption at Rest / in Transit): Automated checks of cloud configurations (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). The platform demonstrates that all databases, backups, and hard drives are encrypted.
- Firewall and network configurations: Continuous verification that security groups and firewall rules are correctly configured and that no critical ports (such as SSH/Port 22) are exposed to the internet.
- Secure configuration of storage buckets: Automated verification that data storage (such as AWS S3 buckets) is set to “private” by default and protected against public access.
3. Endpoint and Device Management (Device Security)
- Laptop hard drive encryption: Continuous verification via MDM systems (Mobile Device Management such as Jamf, Intune, or Kandji) that FileVault (Mac) or BitLocker (Windows) is active on all employee devices.
- Antivirus and EDR status: Automated verification that active, up-to-date endpoint protection software is running on every registered corporate endpoint device.
4. Vulnerability and Software Management (Vulnerability & Code Management)
- Automated Vulnerability Scans: Platforms integrate tools such as Tenable, Qualys, or cloud-native scanners to provide auditors with direct reports on open security vulnerabilities.
- Code Review and Git Approval Rules: GRC tools use APIs (e.g., connecting to GitHub or GitLab) to verify compliance with programming guidelines defined in the ISMS—for instance, by automatically confirming that no code enters the production branch without adhering to the “four-eyes principle” (pull request approval).
5. Human Resources
- Security Employee Training (Security Awareness): Direct tracking via LMS platforms (Learning Management Systems). The GRC tool automatically generates a list of employees who have successfully completed the annual IT security and data protection training.
- Policy Acknowledgment: When new policies are published, the GRC platform digitally tracks which employees have signed off on or accepted the documents.
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