Compliance Coaching: Can You Tell Policies, Standards, and Procedures Apart?

Ever feel confused by compliance talk? Terms like policies, standards, and procedures get thrown around a lot, but what do they actually mean for your business? For Managed Service Providers (MSPs), understanding these concepts is crucial not only for maintaining compliance but also for driving revenue and providing added value to clients.

Before we dig in a little deeper, let’s start with the quick definitions:

• Policies: Think of policies as the “why.” They explain the overall goals and expectations for compliance in your business. For MSPs, having clear policies helps in setting a strategic direction and demonstrating commitment to compliance to your clients.
• Procedures: Procedures are the “how.” They provide step-by-step instructions on how to achieve those goals in your daily operations. Well-defined procedures ensure that your team consistently follows best practices, reducing the risk of errors and non-compliance.
• Standards: Standards are the “what.” They set the specific criteria you need to meet to comply with regulations. Basically, they explain the reason for doing it in the first place. Adhering to standards like SOC 2, HIPAA, or CMMC not only keeps you compliant but also enhances your credibility with clients in regulated industries.

These three elements work together to form the foundation of a strong compliance program. But how could you, as an MSP, turn such a program into a revenue-maker? This article is here to help. We’ll break down why these elements matter to your clients of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and how Compliance Scorecard can simplify the entire process with our MSP compliance services.

By leveraging Compliance Scorecard, MSPs can streamline the creation and management of policies, procedures, and standards, making it easier to maintain compliance and deliver exceptional value to clients. Let’s dive into how understanding and implementing these elements can transform your compliance strategy and boost your business growth.

How to Play the Game

In the game of compliance, policies, procedures, and standards are the first line. Here’s how it works and how Compliance Scorecard can help you master the game.

Policies are the rule.

Policies are formal statements that come from the governing body of an organization. They define why things are done the way they are, typically in accordance with the strategic objectives of the organization. For MSPs, having well-defined policies helps in setting clear expectations and strategic directions for both your team and your clients.

Policies make their way to the rest of the organization through written documents consisting of a series of statements, rules, and assertions. They outline expected behaviors, required actions, and prohibited activities, and they state who is required to follow these rules as well as the consequences for not adhering to them. With Compliance Scorecard, you can easily create, customize, and distribute these policies, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Think of compliance as a security referee that makes everyone play by the rules.

Procedures are you play by the rules.

A policy defines why things are done a certain way, but organizations also need to address the ‘how’. A procedure defines how to do the policies and guides actual behaviors. For MSPs, having clear procedures ensures that your team consistently follows best practices, reducing the risk of errors and non-compliance.

Procedures take the form of a step-by-step instruction manual that outlines what actions must be followed to achieve the goals of the policies. They teach the people in a business how to do what the policies say, and they ensure consistency and accuracy. Compliance Scorecard offers detailed templates and guides to help you develop these procedures, ensuring they are aligned with industry standards and best practices.

Standards are why the rules exist.

A standard is a compliance framework. For example, defense contractors adhere to the CMMC 2.0 standard, and healthcare providers adhere to the HIPAA security standard. An organization creates policies and procedures that reflect what the standard asks of them.

Within a standard are controls. Administrative, technical, and physical controls are the mechanisms put in place to mitigate the risks identified by the organization in relation to the standard.

The Compliance Process Baseline

Our 4-step compliance process helps MSPs operationalize compliance, and you can read all about that process in our latest guide. For the purposes of today’s discussion, we’re focusing on the baseline of that process: alignment

Alignment refers to aligning actual business practices with a standard and its controls, and we believe the best way to accomplish that is through written policies and procedures.

Policies define how people are expected to go about business activities, and procedures tell them how to do that. Expertly crafted to align with a standard’s requirements, policies and processes can shape the day-to-day behaviors of individuals, departments, and the organization as a whole and foster a culture of compliance.

Compliance Scorecard for the Win

Our 4-step compliance process helps MSPs operationalize compliance, and you can read all about that process in our latest guide. For the purposes of today’s discussion, we’re focusing on the baseline of that process: alignment.

Alignment refers to aligning actual business practices with a standard and its controls, and we believe the best way to accomplish that is through written policies and procedures.

Policies define how people are expected to go about business activities, and procedures tell them how to do that. Expertly crafted to align with a standard’s requirements, policies and processes can shape the day-to-day behaviors of individuals, departments, and the organization as a whole and foster a culture of compliance.

For MSPs, achieving alignment can be particularly challenging due to the diverse range of clients and industries they serve. Compliance Scorecard simplifies this by providing customizable policy templates and detailed procedures that align with various compliance standards. This ensures that your business practices are consistently in line with regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance and enhancing your reputation among clients.

Why Alignment Matters for MSPs

Alignment is crucial for MSPs because it ensures that all business practices are not only compliant but also optimized for efficiency and effectiveness. By aligning your practices with established standards, you can demonstrate to clients that your operations are robust and trustworthy. This builds confidence and can be a significant competitive advantage, especially when dealing with clients in highly regulated industries.

How Compliance Scorecard Helps

Compliance Scorecard is designed to make the alignment process straightforward and efficient. With our platform, you can:

• Access Preloaded Policy Packs: Choose from over 13 policy packs that describe the controls required by various frameworks. Customize these to fit your specific needs.
• Develop and Manage Procedures: Use our templates to create step-by-step procedures that guide your team in implementing policies correctly.
• Ensure Continuous Improvement: Regularly update and reassess your policies and procedures to keep up with changing standards and organizational growth.

By leveraging Compliance Scorecard, MSPs can ensure that their compliance programs are not only effective but also dynamic and adaptable to the evolving regulatory landscape. This foundational alignment is the first step towards building a robust and sustainable compliance framework that drives business growth and client satisfaction.

Write expert policies and procedures.

Compliance Scorecard gives you access to templates developed through our years of experience in the compliance industry. Create, customize, and manage password policies, acceptable use policies, codes of conducts, and more.

Access standards and controls.

Preloaded with dozens of policy packs that describe what controls are required from what framework, policy and procedure implementation is a breeze with Compliance Scorecard. If nothing quite fits your needs, there’s always the option to build your own.

Train personnel.

Easily distribute policies and processes from a centralized document library, ensure they get to the people who need to put them into practice with audience segmentation features, and send automated reminders and notifications to ensure everyone has signed off on their roles and responsibilities.

Obtain authorization.

Not only do policies and procedures serve as the foundation through which you meet the requirements of a standard, they also serve as evidence of due care. Compliance Scorecard facilitates versioning and electronic signatures, so you can demonstrate that clients have authorized the initiatives you’re implementing on their behalf.

Stay updated.

Standards are subject to change and organizations scale, and Compliance Scorecard is built to keep up with changing needs. With policies and procedures organized, categorized, and accessible from a central repository, updating and reassessing is one click away.

Write Once, Deploy Many: Unlocking Extreme Efficiencies for MSPs

The concept of “write once, deploy many” is a game-changer for MSPs looking to maximize their operational efficiencies and significantly boost their revenue. By leveraging Compliance Scorecard's powerful platform, MSPs can create comprehensive policies and procedures just once, and then deploy them across multiple clients with a single click. This approach eliminates the need for redundant efforts and allows MSPs to maintain consistent compliance standards across their entire client base.

Imagine the time savings when you no longer have to rewrite or manually customize each document for different clients. With Compliance Scorecard, you can customize a template to fit your needs, and then effortlessly distribute it to all relevant parties. This streamlined process not only ensures uniformity and accuracy but also frees up valuable resources, allowing your team to focus on higher-value tasks and client engagements.

By adopting the “write once, deploy many” strategy, MSPs can rapidly scale their operations without a corresponding increase in workload. This means you can double your client base and revenue without doubling your effort. The efficiencies gained through this approach enable you to deliver exceptional service to more clients, positioning your MSP as a leader in the market.

In short, with Compliance Scorecard, you can drive extreme efficiencies. Write your policies and procedures once, deploy them many times, and watch your business grow exponentially. This innovative approach empowers MSPs to achieve operational excellence, drive revenue growth, and maintain a competitive edge in the fast-paced world of compliance and IT services.

Become a Policies and Procedures Expert with Compliance Scorecard

Policies and procedures are the baseline of any successful compliance program. If they’re crafted with expertise and deployed with precision, they can serve as the foundation through which you meet the requirements of any standard.

Compliance Scorecard is designed with policy and procedure governance at its heart, that’s why we’ve loaded it with compliance policies for MSPs (plus a whole lot more). Join a live demo to discover all the tools you need to develop, implement, and manage a compliance program, starting with comprehensive policies and processes.

Download the Guide Now

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