Connected Data Makes Compliance Easier

Regulatory compliance can be a headache for any company. If you do business globally, the challenge is even more significant. Governmental regulations vary greatly across countries and even within local regions. If that weren’t difficult enough, add on a continuous stream of regulatory changes, and you have a real problem. Whether you are trying to perform the compliance functions in-house or leverage an outside firm to assist, connected data is the key to keeping your company in good standing with regulators.

Regulations Are Ever-Changing

It would be great if there were a universal set of global regulations that companies could follow. Unfortunately, they don’t exist (and probably never will). Each jurisdiction is empowered to pass its own laws and define its own regulations, and companies that do business in their area of control are responsible for ensuring compliance.

Many large companies have teams of compliance staff dedicated to tracking and analyzing regulatory changes to determine their impact on company operations. Smaller and mid-size companies can’t afford to do the analysis internally, so they either seek the assistance of an outside firm to advise them, or they rely on limited (and often incomplete or obsolete) regulatory guidance available on the internet. Regardless of the approach, someone must figure out what regulations apply to you and how regulatory changes impact your company’s operations.

Companies are leveraging the Actian DataConnect integration platform, and the Actian connected data warehouse to help them aggregate data from many external data sources to compile the big picture of regulations and quickly identify changes that matter to their operations. Connected data enables them to identify risks and opportunities rapidly to ensure continuous compliance as well as exploit new opportunities favorable to the company.

Compliance Issues Permeate Your Company

Regulatory compliance isn’t just a finance issue. Nearly all facets of your company are subject to a variety of regulations that must be understood and complied with. Sales and marketing are subject to GDPR and other data privacy laws. Manufacturing operations have RoHS requirements as well as various regulations governing supply chains and import/export of materials. IT is subject to Sarbanes Oxley controls. HR is responsible for demonstrating compliance with workplace safety (OSHA) and labor regulations. Finance deals with tax, trade, and securities regulations. The list could continue indefinitely.

Although each business function has unique regulations governing their activities, all of them face the same challenges of understanding what the current rules are, applying them correctly, and demonstrating compliance. Compliance monitoring, control, reporting, and audit support require reliable data that span your companies operations. Sarbanes Oxley compliance requires data that spans many of your IT systems. Tax compliance requires data about things like assets, sales transactions, where operations are taking place, and the type of work your employees are performing. Manufacturing compliance requires tracking the flow of materials through complex supply and distribution networks. Managing each of these compliance facets requires accurate and connected data.

How a Data Integration Platform Can Help Your Compliance Efforts

Ensuring continuous compliance requires understanding what regulations apply to you and analyzing data about your operations to understand how you are conforming with regulatory requirements. Doing this effectively requires a lot of data from a lot of different sources. Managing connections with each of the needed data sources one by one isn’t practical – the effort required to establish connections is burdensome, and there is little way to ensure that you are seeing the full picture (and not missing something).

A data integration platform, like Actian DataConnect, enables you to connect all your data sources (internal and external) in a consistent, centrally managed way. This then allows you to aggregate disparate data together for analysis and reporting. If you are doing the compliance tasks in-house, the connected data that DataConnect can help you assemble will provide an effective channel to monitor regulatory changes, monitor your company’s activities for compliance, and ensure you are using accurate data for reporting and audit support. If you are using an external firm to assist in compliance, DataConnect can serve as a window into your organization, enabling your compliance partner to monitor your activities and provide you with informed compliance guidance.

Actian is a leading provider of data management solutions used by companies across industries and geographies. To learn more about Actian solutions for financial services and compliance, visit https://www.actian.com/solutions/by-industry/financial-services/

About Traci Curran

Traci Curran serves as Director of Product Marketing at Actian focused on the Actian Data Platform. With more than 20 years of experience in technology marketing, Traci has previously held senior marketing roles at CloudBolt Software, Racemi (acquired by DXC Corporation), as well as some of the world’s most innovative startups. Traci is passionate about helping customers understand how they can accelerate innovation and gain competitive advantage by leveraging digital transformation and cloud technologies.