The Best 10 Compliance Management Tools in 2024

Alla Chernets -

In this age of constantly changing rules and regulations, reliable compliance software is not only a good idea but also essential for businesses and their workers.

What Is Compliance Management Software?

Compliance management software (CMS) is a specialized tool aimed at:

  • Ensuring legal and industry-specific requirements
  • Risk management
  • Policy enforcement
  • Audit readiness.

The key features of compliance management software typically cover:

  • Centralized repository (stores and organizes compliance documents (policies, procedures, guidelines, regulations)
  • Risk assessment (tools that identify, assess, and prioritize compliance risks for proactive management)
  • Document control (creates, reviews, updates, and communicates policies to ensure alignment with regulations)
  • Regulatory change tracking: (monitors regulatory changes to maintain compliance)
  • Incident management (reports, investigates, and manages compliance incidents to prevent future occurrences)
  • Compliance reporting (reports and analytics on compliance performance to identify trends and assess progress).

Compliance platform software isn't limited to one industry. It's widely used in fields like healthcare, finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, energy, and even education, helping organizations stay on top of regulations.

How CMS Works

Here's a more detailed breakdown of how compliance management system software functions:

  • The software is installed and configured based on the organization's specific needs and the regulatory requirements it must adhere to. This may involve setting up user roles, access controls, and customizing the system to align with existing processes.
  • Users can upload, store, and organize compliance-related documents, including policies, procedures, guidelines, and regulatory updates, making them easily accessible to relevant stakeholders.
  • Compliance reporting software provides tools for risk scoring, prioritization, and mapping risks to specific regulations or controls.
  • The software may offer automated workflows for approvals, version control, and document tracking.
  • The software provides alerts or notifications when new regulations are introduced or when gaps in compliance are identified.
  • Users can report compliance-related incidents, which are then investigated, tracked, and managed within the software. The system may provide tools for root cause analysis, corrective action planning, and incident reporting.

The Bottom Line: CMS assists organizations in maintaining a strong compliance posture, reducing the risk of fines, penalties, or reputational damage, and promoting a culture of ethical and responsible business practices.

The Challenges of Navigating a Complex Regulatory Landscape

The complexity of the regulatory business environment arises from various factors.

  • Jurisdictional Variability
  • Sector-Specific Regulations
  • Evolving Technological Standards
  • Compliance Costs
  • International Trade and Standards
  • Regulatory Uncertainty and Change
  • Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria

As an example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the world's most stringent privacy and security laws.

It imposes obligations onto organizations anywhere, so long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU.

In contrast, the United States has a sectoral approach to data protection, with no federal law comparable to GDPR.

Instead, it has specific regulations – for instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for healthcare information.

Best Compliance Management Software for Businesses

TMetric

Confidently Navigate Complex Labor Laws with Automated Time Tracking

TMetric is a comprehensive time tracking and management software that offers various features to support compliance efforts and improve productivity, project management, and team collaboration.

Background Context
Labor laws around the globe, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the United States, mandate strict adherence to regulations regarding working hours, overtime pay, and record-keeping.

  • TMetric core functionality revolves around monitoring the hours employees work, including regular, overtime, and paid time off (PTO) hours through desktop applications, mobile apps, and browser extensions. This capability is crucial in ensuring adherence to labor regulations limiting working hours and requiring overtime pay.
  • By categorizing work into projects and tasks, TMetric helps define work structures that can be closely monitored for compliance with labor laws related to specific job functions or contracts.
  • TMetric allows for setting permissions and access levels, which can be useful for ensuring that only authorized personnel can edit time entries.
  • The software reporting capabilities enable the generation of detailed reports on work hours. These reports are crucial for auditing and proving compliance with labor regulations.

🪙 Free for teams of up to 5

LogicGate Risk Cloud

Compliance Made Clear

Being featured in reports by Forrester Research, such as "The Forrester Wave™: Governance, Risk, And Compliance Platforms, Q4 2023," lends credibility to LogicGate's capabilities.

It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. It is a leading GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) solution, ideally suited for global enterprises seeking to maintain high compliance standards.

  • Centralized Platform provides a consolidated view of risks, assets, and controls.
  • LogicGate emphasizes automation to improve efficiency. This can include automating tasks like risk assessments, reporting, and control monitoring, freeing up your team's time for more strategic work.
  • LogicGate Risk Cloud offers features specifically designed to address third-party risks. This includes streamlining vendor assessments, managing documentation, and implementing risk mitigation strategies.
  • A key advantage is the no-code configuration. You don't need programming expertise to set up and customize the platform.

🪙The cost of service depends on the selection of applications and licenses.

Microsoft Compliance Manager

Your Compass for Compliance

Microsoft Compliance Manager is a solution within the Microsoft Purview suite that helps organizations assess and manage compliance across their multi-cloud environment.

Key features

  • Compliance Manager offers a pre-built library of ready-to-use templates for common industry standards and regional regulations
  • Users can create custom assessments to address specific compliance requirements
  • Risk assessment to prioritize and focus on areas that need the most attention
  • It provides recommendations on how to address risks and improve your compliance posture.

Automating assessments saves time and resources compared to manual processes, resulting in cost savings and improving efficiency.

🪙Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is part of the Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance suite, with pricing starting from $12.00 per user per month under an annual commitment.

Vanta

Empower Compliance with Proactive Risk Management

Vanta is a strong contender in the compliance management software market, offering advanced functionality.

  • Vanta tackles a wide range of industry standards, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and CCPA. This allows businesses to manage compliance with various regulations from a single platform.
  • Vanta offers continuous monitoring that keeps you updated on your compliance position. This proactive approach helps identify and address issues before they snowball into bigger problems.
  • Vanta's customer support is praised for being responsive and helpful. This ensures users have the assistance they need to get the most out of the platform.
  •  Vanta is designed to scale with your business, making it a good fit for companies of all sizes.

🪙The vendor provides three pricing options: Core, Collaborate, and Scale, with details available upon request.

Cloudanix

Beyond Compliance: Manage, Monitor, Master

It helps manage compliance across various regulatory landscapes, including the stringent financial, healthcare, and data protection regulations requirements by providing frameworks for major standards such as APRA, CIS, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, MAS, NIST, PCI DSS, SOC1, and SOC2.

  • Multi-cloud Support: Cloudanix works across major cloud platforms (GCP, AWS), allowing you to manage compliance across your entire cloud environment. This is crucial for organizations that juggle multiple cloud providers.
  • Automated Workflows: The platform automates security workflows, streamlining compliance tasks and reducing manual effort for your security team.
  • Anomaly Detection & Alerting: Cloudanix anomaly engine identifies potential security threats in real time. Combined with its adaptive notification system, this helps ensure your team receives relevant alerts without getting overwhelmed by false positives.

🪙The cost of service is $149.00 monthly

SecureFrame

Compliance. Simplified

Secureframe streamlines SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance, offering continuous monitoring and automated evidence collection to simplify the certification process. Their main product, Secureframe Comply, focuses on automating and streamlining the entire compliance process for businesses of all sizes.

  • It reduces manual work associated with tasks like evidence collection, control assessment, and report generation.
  • Secureframe Comply centralizes all security and compliance aspects in one place.
  • The platform is backed by in-house security and compliance specialists, many with prior auditor experience.
  • Secureframe integrates with security tools, allowing data to flow seamlessly between platforms.

🪙Secureframe offers its platform access at an annual flat rate of $7,500 for businesses employing up to 100 people.

ZenGRC

Path to Compliance Excellence

ZenGRC, offered by RiskOptics, is software that streamlines an organization's GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) processes.

It simplifies the compliance process with its user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards, suitable for businesses looking for scalable governance solutions.

  •  ZenGRC has a comprehensive library of pre-built compliance frameworks, allowing you to easily adapt the platform to your specific industry and regulatory requirements.
  • ZenGRC automates tasks and workflows associated with compliance activities, such as control assessments, evidence collection, and reporting.
  • ZenGRC offers features to manage internal and external audits, including audit scheduling, risk identification, and corrective action tracking.
  • The platform provides a central repository for storing and managing all compliance-related documentation, including policies, procedures, and risk assessments.
  • ZenGRC offers robust reporting capabilities that allow you to generate custom reports on compliance activities, control effectiveness, and risk posture. These reports provide valuable insights for decision-making and demonstrate compliance to stakeholders.

🪙The cost of service reaches USD $2500. Details are provided in a demo

Netwrix

Streamline, Automate, Comply

Netwrix offers cybersecurity solutions to audit user activities and threat detection across IT infrastructures. This software focuses on data security and compliance, delivering data leakage prevention and audit trails.

  • Centralized audit logs for easy access during audits.
  • Tracks changes to configurations and files to ensure adherence to regulations.
  • Analyzes user activity to identify potential compliance violations.
  • Pre-built reports for common regulations like PCI DSS and HIPAA.
  • Automates workflows to streamline compliance processes.

🪙Netwrix offers free trials and demos. Users need to contact a sales team for a quote

MetricStream

Simplifying Compliance, Empowering Decision-Making

MetricStream Corporate Compliance Software is designed to streamline and strengthen compliance programs for organizations facing complex regulations.

  • The software significantly reduces time spent on compliance activities, with MetricStream claiming a 90% improvement.
  • Faster creation and updates of policies (by 55%) is another benefit.
  • The platform facilitates automated workflows, allowing for a more efficient approach to compliance tasks.
  • Real-time reporting provides clear insights into the compliance program's health.
  • MetricStream claims a 60% faster response time to regulatory changes, enabling companies to adapt quickly to evolving requirements.
  • The software helps break down silos within an organization, promoting a more integrated approach to ethics and compliance.

🪙 Provided by a vendor upon request

Diligent

Ease Your Compliance Journey

Diligent empowers organizations with tools for regulatory compliance, policy management, and board governance aimed at enhancing decision-making processes.

  • Diligent emphasizes building a strong compliance culture. The system includes features for promoting awareness, training employees, and managing ethics reporting.
  • Diligent helps monitor ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) metrics through robotic process automation and sends alerts for potential issues.
  • The solution includes tools to onboard, screen, and monitor third-party vendors, potentially reducing the risk of non-compliance through the supply chain.

🪙The cost of service is $450.00 per year

Key Takeaway

  • Compliance management software (CMS) is crucial for businesses to navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape. 
  • It helps ensure legal and industry adherence, manage risks, enforce policies, and prepare for audits.

Benefits of compliance management system software include:

  • Centralized storage of compliance documents
  • Risk assessment and management tools
  • Automated tasks for efficiency (reporting, control monitoring)
  • Regulatory change tracking
  • Improved audit readiness.

Investing in the best compliance software can significantly improve your organization's efficiency and mitigate compliance risks.

Explore these top choices to find the perfect solution for enhancing your compliance posture and achieving transparency.