Contents
Effectively managing risk and compliance in a distributed organization, where various high-risk activities occur across multiple locations, poses a significant challenge. Each department and business unit has distinct compliance requirements and operational needs. By unifying all its processes and systems, an organization can streamline its risk and compliance management and foster enhanced visibility and control throughout the entire organization.
Learn how 6clicks' integrated solution empowers enterprises to stay on top of their risk and compliance programs through a flexible, comprehensive GRC platform:
The challenge with distributed risk and compliance programs
A holistic GRC approach is necessary for organizations to successfully navigate security, integrity, and operational efficiency. Enterprises typically have a hard time refining their GRC structures due to several factors such as:
Fragmented risk and compliance
The existence of different policies and mechanisms for tracking and maintaining compliance, combined with the lack of standardization and aggregation for risk reporting often results in a fragmented risk and compliance strategy. This prevents organizations from developing an accurate understanding of their overall risk posture and responding efficiently to rising threats.
Inefficient manual processes
Outdated and manual GRC processes increase the risk of human errors and can compromise an organization’s compliance status. Methods such as manual data logging and dependence on spreadsheets and paper-based documents are not only unreliable but also perpetuate labor-intensive, time-wasting tasks that cannot be measured and therefore, are not readily actionable.
Enabling scalability
Many enterprises struggle to overcome the challenge of implementing a robust GRC solution capable of sustaining the ongoing growth of their organizations. The more an organization expands, the more difficult it is to consolidate its processes, data, assets, and entities, leading to restricted collaboration, limited resource sharing, and unsynchronized risk and compliance efforts.
Introducing 6clicks Hub & Spoke
With the goal of equipping enterprises with an integrated, automated, and scalable GRC platform, 6clicks has pioneered the Hub & Spoke. The Hub & Spoke’s multi-tenant architecture is designed specifically to facilitate distributed risk and compliance functions between different business units. It has two main components:
The Hub
Serves as the central team of operations for the risk and compliance function, the Hub offers a centralized command center where an enterprise can control and deploy risk and compliance content, such as audit, assessment, and control set templates and enforce best practices down to its ‘Spokes,’ which represent a team, department, jurisdiction, project, etc. in your business. The Hub & Spoke architecture is designed for deployment across your entire organization, no matter the structure.
Using the Hub, organizations can unite their GRC processes under a single cohesive system and enhance their risk and compliance management. Here are the features of the Hub:
Spoke creation and management
The Hub provides flexible user access management features for both Hub users and Spoke users. Team members at the Hub can access and manage the activities of Spokes while additional team members can be added directly under a Spoke, limiting their access to the Spoke they were assigned to. User access, permissions, and other customizations can also be configured for each Spoke individually.
At the Hub, Spokes can be created from scratch or by using Spoke templates that contain pre-defined content. This expedites configuration and deployment and allows enterprises to set up ready-made Spokes in mere seconds. Spoke hierarchies can also be defined using Spoke groups to reflect your organizational hierarchy, therefore establishing management and reporting structures.
With the Hub & Spoke, an organization can unify its risk and compliance strategies while still granting its entities the autonomy to execute their activities.
Unlimited content
Another feature of the Hub is the open Content Library which contains an extensive collection of laws, regulations, standards, frameworks, templates, and other ready-made content that enterprises can use for free. Conveniently edit, download in bulk, link to your internal content, or use them as is.
Enterprises can curate content from the Content Library to meet their specific risk and compliance use cases and upload them in their Exclusive Content Library. With your own Content Library, you can provide content according to the different needs of your Spokes.
You can also push content to your Spokes directly without using your Exclusive Content Library. From the Hub, you can upload your own content, such as audit and assessment templates and control sets, or download from the Public Content Library, and add them to a Spoke for other team members to use, skipping the Content Library altogether.
Workflows and custom fields
The Hub also helps enterprises standardize processes across their entire organizations. Hub users can set up workflows and custom fields that shall be enforced at the Spoke level. This is to define best practices and ensure that all team members are following the same methodologies.
Workflows can be created, edited, and managed at the Hub. This involves setting the stages of your risk management process and defining specific steps such as triage, assessment, management, and review. These workflows will then be the default configuration across all Spokes.
Custom fields such as country, state, description, and more can also be managed at the Hub. Hub users can customize, rearrange, delete, and enable or disable these fields as well as add sub-level or ‘child’ fields and dropdown options. Risk Assessment Fields like impact, likelihood, risk rating, and control effectiveness can also be managed, modified, and created at the Hub.
Comprehensive reporting and analytics
With the Hub & Spoke, reports across all Spokes can be summarized and compiled at the Hub. Unlock critical insights into your organization and gain a deep understanding of your risk and compliance landscape. You can utilize the platform’s intuitive dashboards and detailed reporting templates and incorporate your branding. Generate the data you need in a single click using the Pixel Perfect tool or design interactive management reports through the LiveDocs feature. With advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, you can make well-informed decisions that can help your organization achieve its goals.
The Spoke
Meanwhile, the Spoke is where all activities such as running audits and assessments and generating reports take place across business units. Spokes are separate environments for your teams or entities where they can access all of 6clicks’ GRC modules which include Risk Management, Compliance Management, Audit & Assessment, Issues and Incident Management, Vendor Risk Management, and other tools and capabilities to augment your risk and compliance program. Enterprises can also leverage Hailey, 6clicks’ generative AI engine to enable faster and more accurate risk assessments and compliance audits.
Spoke data can be accessed at the Hub but can only be managed at the Spoke level. Data between risk and compliance activities are also linked to establish context, ensure accurate and complete documentation, and enhance workflows. The Spoke enables a range of risk and compliance capabilities such as:
Cyber risk management
Optimize the entire risk lifecycle with 6clicks’ powerful enterprise and operational risk management capabilities. Teams can utilize ready-to-use risk libraries and risk assessment frameworks to facilitate risk identification and assessment. Custom workflows that align with existing risk management processes can also be created to standardize procedures and define the requirements at every stage to guide team members accordingly.
Effectively manage risks by building risk registers to categorize and monitor risks. Implement risk treatment plans that link to internal controls and compliance requirements. Team members can then assign tasks, track the progress of each treatment plan, and report the results directly to management or executives, fostering cyber risk awareness throughout the entire organization.
Cyber compliance management
Demonstrate your organization’s compliance with various laws, standards, and regulations and efficiently manage your compliance obligations. Utilize 6clicks’ policies, controls, obligation sets, and other turnkey templates or create and import your own. Users can assign control tasks and responsibilities to other team members, easily track their status, and measure and report control effectiveness.
Teams can also automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks like compliance and control mapping using Hailey. It can map external compliance requirements back to your internal controls within minutes and instantly identify areas of compliance and non-compliance to help you get a clear picture of your compliance posture. Your organization can then take proactive measures and address compliance gaps through risk management.
Audits and assessments
6clicks’ Audit and Assessment Management allows teams to effortlessly conduct question-based assessments for third-party risk assessments or requirement-based assessments for internal audits. Hailey can also automate answering audit and assessment questions using historical data to help minimize manual tasks.
Team members can link risks and issues to assessment responses to support risk treatment efforts and connect assessment questions to controls and compliance obligations to provide an in-depth view of the organization’s compliance status. Built-in assessment and reporting templates are also available for delivering real-time insights.
Issues and incident management
Facilitate proactive issue and incident management by prioritizing and responding to issues before they can affect your operations. With the 6clicks platform, organizations can enable quick and easy incident submission and automate issue identification. Issues and incidents are systematically arranged in a single register and users can assign issue actions to team members or third-party members and track their completion. Issues and incidents can also be linked to assessment responses, risks, controls, compliance requirements, and more to better track the incident management lifecycle.
Third-party risk management
Streamline risk and compliance management across third-party engagements with 6clicks’ Vendor Risk Management feature. Easily onboard suppliers and automate bulk assessments. Profile your vendors according to the risks associated with them and categorize risks according to your preferred framework. Team members can also create custom assessment questionnaires or download templates from the Content Library.
Industry solutions
The Hub & Spoke is built to cater to diverse industries and a variety of use cases. Here are some of them:
Financial services
In a highly regulated industry such as the financial services sector, organizations require a robust solution that can help them successfully manage complex compliance obligations and navigate relationships with regulators and customers. The Hub & Spoke empowers enterprises to implement a centralized risk management strategy throughout their entire organizations and prove their compliance over different jurisdictions. In addition, 6clicks’ Audit and Assessment makes way for a seamless and secure audit process, addressing a gap that financial service organizations usually face when relying on spreadsheets.
Government
Due to the sensitive and confidential nature of their work, government agencies have a heightened need for a more resilient approach to cybersecurity. The Hub & Spoke plays a vital role in helping government organizations adhere to mandatory regulations, manage and mitigate threats, and standardize processes across multiple departments, enabling them to deliver essential services while promoting safety and security.
Telecommunications and technology
For telecommunication and technology companies, maintaining the ability to innovate while adhering to strict regulatory requirements is crucial. The Hub & Spoke allows organizations to implement robust cybersecurity strategies to effectively manage risks and threats and meet compliance obligations, therefore ensuring uninterrupted service to their customers.
Private equity and investment managers
The 6clicks platform empowers private equity firms and portfolio managers to streamline risk and compliance management processes across investment portfolios and safeguard their asset value. With the Hub & Spoke, portfolio companies can gain enhanced control of the compliance maturity of their investments and improve their overall GRC maturity.
Aerospace and defense
Organizations in the aerospace and defense sectors require the highest level of security for their assets, data, and customers. They are also subject to strict compliance requirements and risk management demands. That said, 6clicks’ Hub & Spoke offers the right level of autonomy and uniformity that allows each department to adhere to its respective legal obligations and deliver consolidated results.
Pricing model
6clicks’ pricing structure is simple: your organization can use the Hub for free and payment is only triggered upon extending the platform to your entities, therefore creating Spokes. With our unique pricing approach, you can take advantage of the following inclusions under the Enterprise License:
- Unlimited Spoke users – Payment is made only for each Spoke or entity that will be added regardless of the number of users
- Unlimited vendors – Manage all your third-party suppliers in one platform
- Unlimited assessments – Run unlimited audits and assessments with each Spoke
- All features and modules – Gain access to all 6clicks GRC capabilities including Risk Management, Compliance Management, Vendor Risk Management, and more
- Hailey AI – Automate compliance mapping and audits and assessments with our generative AI engine
- Content Library – Get unlimited access to authority documents and pre-defined 6clicks content and have your own Exclusive Content Library
- Analytics & Reporting – Utilize our native dashboards and reports and retrieve real-time data and insights
- Full implementation and support - Includes full access to our Knowledge Base and user community, dedicated CSM and tech POC, user and admin training, product consulting, and more
Experience a demonstration of our AI-powered platform for cyber risk and compliance:
Establish a holistic and resilient GRC strategy with 6clicks’ Hub & Spoke
Build an integrated, AI-powered, and scalable GRC program that can boost your organization’s growth and operational resilience through the Hub & Spoke.
Written by Louis Strauss
Louis began his career in Berlin where he also founded Dobbel Berlin – Berlin’s curated search engine. Returning to Melbourne to join KPMG, Louis lead the development of software designed to distribute IP and create a platform for us by advisors and clients. While at KPMG, Louis also co-authored Chasing Digital: A Playbook for the New Economy. Louis is accomplished in stakeholder management, requirements gathering, product testing, refinement and project implementation. Louis also holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a Masters of Information Systems from the University of Melbourne.
