Governance, Risk Management & Compliance (GRC)

Westport Business Solutions is committed to helping its clients and the business community it serves and to operate in an effective, consistent, ethical, legal and ultimately sustainable manner. It is our firm belief that an effective GRC framework provides the basis to achieve this, and thereby provides the greatest opportunity for long-term business stability and sustainable growth.

What is GRC?

Commonly held definitions can be long-winded and often embrace certain focal points of a GRC framework including Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation, Basel II, etc.

GRC is not a single initiative, nor is it a collection of related initiatives, rather, it is common understanding that all facets and professional disciplines of a business must work together in a structured manner to realize the common goals of consistency, effectiveness and transparency. Through the progression to achieve these goals is realized the business and stability and growth cited above.

We at Westport Business Solutions would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate how taking a holistic approach to GRC can translate into a real long-term competitive advantage for your business.

From the vast array of choices available, we will help you find you right tool to effect the most pragmatic and cost efficient GRC solution for your particular business.

For those clients who have specific, pressing needs for support with discrete elements of the GRC framework, we have broken down our stand alone GRC related service offerings as follows: 

• Governance & Advisory
• Internal Audit Solutions
• Information Technology Governance & Performance Management
• Risk Management & Consulting

Each of these services is provided within the context of a client's overall GRC framework with the intent of individual components eventually becoming part of a complete GRC solution.

The Benefits of a Westport Business Solutions GRC Framework: 

• Accountability - Learn how to develop a system of accountability to see the status of open GRC issues, unresolved findings and those individuals responsible for their resolution.
• Sustainability - Establish a sustainable process and infrastructure that allows you to address GRC issues collaboratively and continuously as your business needs evolve.
• Consistency - Multiple GRC activities are aligned in an integrated framework using common processes, formats and data.
• Efficiency - Elimination of redundant assessments and audits through a common process and data approach.
• Transparency - Gain a clear perspective of your GRC program and react quickly to problems or take advantage of opportunities as they occur.
• Rapid ROI - Significantly reduce the cost of risk and compliance initiatives now and in the future. 

Contact us now and find out how a GRC solution can lead to a genuine competitive advantage, save real costs of doing business and enhance credibility with stakeholders. 

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM):

ERM is the cornerstone of an every GRC framework. The implementation of a effective, sustainable ERM model requires considerable effort and discipline on the part of any organization. Therefore, while the potential rewards for the organization are substantial -- risk mitigation, compliance cost reduction, enhanced competitive advantage  -- the implementation of such a model should not be underestimated. Therefore, Westport Business Solutions has adopted a step-by-step methodology to help you determine what the best approach to ERM is for your organization:

Evaluation - First we help you determine whether an integrated ERM model is the right option for your business right now. Should that prove the case, we can support you in the following manner:

ERM implementation – We will help you develop a methodology that is consistent with your business model and choose a tool that is both practical and efficient to maintain it.

Enterprise risk assessments – We will provide the knowledge to enable you to manage your own risk assessment process.

Risk remediation processes – These will be structured, disciplined and transparent so that the status of open issues can be clearly and readily determined. Evaluation of the adequacy of risk responses – clearly defined criteria will be established to allow you to effectively manage this process.

Contact us now and find out how implementing an ERM model can benefit you business either as a stand alone proposition or as part of a broader GRC Framework (see above). 

Sarbanes-Oxley:

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Sustainment - Improving Section 404 compliance, reducing 404 compliance cost – improving reliability. Today, many companies rely on manual, detective controls that are costly to operate and test and are prone to error.

Now, six years after inception, the requirements of SOX compliance have evolved. We can help you replace outdated control related activity by introducing automated controls that are more reliable and cost-effective.

Contact us to find out how we can help you select and deploy emerging controls automation software, or controls monitoring/ self-assessment programs to make controls testing and monitoring more efficient. We can also help you consolidate fragmented compliance initiatives into a single, integrated compliance program creating real year-on-year cost savings.

GRC and Due Diligence Practices Leader - Nevil Ede