GRC Tools Features: Core Capabilities and What to Evaluate

GRC tools support Governance, Risk and Compliance work by organizing shared information, controls, workflows, evidence, assessments, issues, reporting, and accountability.

Direct Answer

The main features of GRC tools typically include risk management, compliance management, control management, policy management, audit support, issue and remediation tracking, assessments, evidence management, workflow automation, reporting, dashboards, and integrations.

The right feature set depends on the organization's operating model. Feature count alone is not a reliable selection criterion.

Risk management

Risk features help identify, assess, treat, monitor, and report risks. Common capabilities include risk registers, inherent and residual risk, scoring, treatment plans, ownership, risk acceptance, monitoring, and reporting.

A mature implementation should connect risks with controls, business processes, assets, actions, and obligations.

Compliance management

Compliance features organize requirements and evaluate whether controls address them. They can include regulatory requirements, obligations, requirement mapping, assessments, control mappings, exceptions, evidence collection, and compliance reporting.

Traceability is more valuable than simply storing a list of regulations.

Control management

Control features support control libraries, ownership, objectives, testing, effectiveness, exceptions, remediation, and relationships between controls, risks, and requirements.

Policy management