Complying with government regulations is fast becoming a big part of
every IT department's mission, as more and more laws are passed that impose requirements for the handling of electronic data. Large or small, if your company belongs to a regulated industry such as healthcare or financial services, or is publicly traded, meeting legal requirements can take a big chunk of your time and budget. And it's not just those in the US who fall under such regulations: Canada, the European Union and other entities also have laws governing data privacy, personal information protection and electronic documents.Although the requirements themselves are the same the compliance solution that works for a huge hospital chain or a national bank may not be the one that's most appropriate or cost-effective for a small neighbourhood clinic or a five-person tax preparation firm.
If your business is small you don't want to overspend on a compliance solution (something that's easy to do when you aren't sure what you actually need and you're at the mercy of a pack of software salespeople who are trying to convince you that more is always better), but you do recognise that your small business will (you hope) grow and you want a solution that will scale along with that growth.
If your business is already large, scalability is even more of an issue; you need a solution that's robust enough to handle multiple types of protected data that's collected and stored at multiple locations and may travel through a complex network system.
With hundreds of compliance consultants and software vendors competing for your business, how do you select a solution that meets your needs today and can be easily expanded as those needs change?
Understand regulatory requirements
The first step is to arm yourself with "just the facts" about the
regulatory requirements that apply to your industry. There's plenty of FUD
out there regarding compliance issues, to the point that many company
officials are in fear of having their companies shut down or even going
to jail if they don't buy the most expensive compliance solution right
now.
It's true that compliance is a serious matter, but you should seek information...
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Talkback
Rule of thumb. The best solutions are often those that, 1, work well, 2, can easily be ripped out or replaced with something else, 3, comply to your environment. The worse solutions are often those that, 1, somewhat work as promised, 2, must be amputated to get rid off, 3, force your environment to comply to theirs.
You might want to reflect such mentality into various clauses that are part of the legal contract between you and others. Along with fines and all that. Sort of: put your money where your mouth is.
As for compliancy in general. It's good to be compliant (usually cheaper, more profiting or less risky) but keep in mind that compliancy requirements do change over time. And they might impact the overall organization in ways most project leaders won't be equipped to handle or even oversee in the shorter and longer run. Or even top brass for that matter. So keep that in mind. Maybe it's best to not appoint a project team (tactical) but rather a program team (strategic) that keeps focus on the overall and longer term picture.