Why Most Companies Ignore GRC Until It’s a Problem (And How to Get Ahead)
You don’t hear about Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) until:
- A major customer demands a SOC 2 Type II audit.
- A vendor suffers a breach and your data is exposed.
- An internal audit uncovers gaps in policy enforcement and control failures.
Most companies don’t ignore GRC because they don’t care—it’s because it’s confusing, slow, and full of spreadsheets, jargon, and legal-sounding templates that feel detached from real business operations.
GRC is treated like an afterthought—until it becomes a blocker to sales, compliance, or trust.
This post breaks down what happens in a GRC strategy session, and why you should stop treating GRC like a checkbox—and start using it as a competitive advantage.
Why Companies Avoid GRC Planning
If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone:
- “We passed our last audit—we’re fine.”
- “GRC just slows things down.”
- “We’ll figure it out when we go for SOC 2.”
GRC Feels Like Bureaucracy
For fast-moving teams, policies and controls feel like friction, not fuel.
It’s Fragmented Across Teams
Legal owns contracts. IT owns access. Security owns tooling. Risk lives in a spreadsheet somewhere.
They Think Compliance = Security
Just because you’re “in compliance” doesn’t mean you’re actually reducing risk.
What a GRC Maturity Session Looks Like
At Anchor Cyber Security, we help companies cut through the noise and focus on the core of a strong GRC function.
Understand Your Business Context
We align your GRC goals with:
- Strategic objectives (growth, M&A, trust)
- Customer expectations (RFPs, procurement, SLAs)
- Regulatory drivers (HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR)
- Operational maturity (what’s documented vs. tribal knowledge)
Assess Your GRC Domains
- Governance: Who owns what? Are policies clear, updated, and enforced?
- Risk Management: Do you track risks systematically? When was the last update?
- Compliance: Are your controls mapped to a framework? Do you have evidence and owners?
- Control Effectiveness: Are your policies tested, reviewed, and aligned with actual operations?
Identify Gaps and Friction
- Lack of control ownership
- Incomplete vendor risk management
- Untracked exceptions or accepted risks
- Outdated policies with no review cycles
- Fragmented tools and no system of record
Build a GRC Roadmap That Scales
- Month 1–3: Prioritize risk registry and control ownership
- Quarter 2: Build a policy governance program and awareness
- Quarter 3 and beyond: Automate evidence collection, compliance workflows, vendor tracking
- Framework Alignment: SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53—mapped with realistic effort
Executive Summary in Business Language
- Key risks to address
- Compliance posture at a glance
- Action plan with timelines
- Recommendations by function (Legal, IT, Product, Security)
What It’s Not
This session isn’t:
- A policy dump
- A manual audit checklist
- A compliance tool pitch
It is a working session designed to bring clarity on GRC—without slowing down your team.
A Real-World Scenario
Imagine a mid-sized SaaS company preparing to expand into enterprise markets. As they begin to field security questionnaires from large prospects, they realize their documentation is fragmented, controls are informally applied, and their risk register is months out of date.
They conduct a GRC maturity review with a third-party partner.
During the session, they uncover missing control owners, identify policy gaps, and realize their vendor onboarding lacks proper risk scoring. They create a simple, prioritized roadmap to close these issues over the next two quarters.
As a result, they are able to respond to due diligence requests confidently, speed up sales cycles, and proactively prepare for SOC 2.
This scenario is typical—and avoidable with the right approach.
Who Needs This?
- Startups trying to get ahead of compliance requirements
- CISOs or Heads of Security with no formal GRC function
- DevOps teams needing governance clarity
- Legal/Privacy teams managing too much risk ad hoc
- Fast-growth companies facing enterprise RFPs or procurement reviews
Quick Wins You Can Try Today
- List your top 10 vendors and confirm who owns each risk review.
- Review your last policy update—is it over 12 months old?
- Audit your risk register—does it reflect current projects and systems?
Final Takeaways
- GRC is a strategic enabler, not a paperwork burden.
- A focused maturity session brings clarity and direction.
- You will walk away with practical next steps and measurable wins.
Ready to Make GRC Work for You?
Whether you’re chasing a compliance goal or trying to scale your risk management, a GRC strategy session helps you build trust, reduce chaos, and enable growth.
Schedule your discovery session to get started.