How to Build Software for Compliance Management?

Are you thinking of developing software for compliance management and wondering how to go about it? Developing top-notch compliance management solutions requires careful project definition, extensive planning, and quality software development. 

The complexities of such projects flow from the inherently complex nature of compliance processes. As the world of business grows more unpredictable, business processes need more effectiveness and efficiency. Organizations run the risk of overlooking regulatory requirements in the race to roll out increasingly sophisticated business processes. Compliance management software helps organizations manage the maze of industry regulations. Compliance software covers activities required by applicable laws in various countries of operation. Not surprisingly, experts believe that the global compliance management software market will grow at a CAGR of 10.2% between 2020 and 2027.   

For developing compliance tools, do the following:

1. Initiate the project to create software for compliance management

First, you need to onboard an experienced team led by a competent project manager (PM). You also need a business analyst (BA) and a software architect in this team.

Make sure that the PM has in-depth knowledge of project management methodologies and PM best practices. You would want the architect and BA to have good knowledge of compliance software solutions. 

Conduct the project kick-off. Perform a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate and obtain the necessary leadership buy-in. The PM should identify the relevant stakeholders and set expectations, e.g.:

• The project sponsor should remove roadblocks impeding the project.
• The business analyst should document business requirements.
• Apart from creating technical solutions, the architect should document the technical requirements.
• Reviewers should examine the project artifacts. 

2. Review leading compliance management software products to gain useful ideas

You will compete in a crowded market, therefore, your compliance management software must stand out. Review the competitor’s products and their key features to understand what they do well. Take a look at the following compliance management tools:

• Filestage: Filestage helps you strengthen the review processes as a part of document management and compliance management. 
• SiteDocs: If you are targeting the manufacturing sector, then you can use SiteDocs to effectively meet the safety compliance requirements.
• Connecteam: A software solution with primarily team management capabilities, Connecteam also helps organizations with managing compliance.
• PowerDMS:  Apart from being a compliance management solution to manage internal policies within organizations, PowerDMS is a platform to hire, train, and protect employees. 
• Skillcast: Skillcast is one of the well-known learning management systems with a focus on compliance training. 
• HSI Donesafe: You can use HSI Donesafe, a leading compliance management system to handle health, safety, environmental, quality, and legal compliance requirements.
• Libryo: Libryo is one of the prominent regulatory compliance software solutions.
• Netwrix: You can manage data security compliance obligations using Netwrix.
• AuditBoard: AuditBoard is a leading compliance and audit management solution.
• Parapet: A risk management solution, Parapet helps you with important tasks like risk assessment, risk mitigation, etc.  

3. Gather, analyze, document, finalize, and manage requirements

You now need the crack team led by the PM to collect, analyze, write up, baseline, and manage requirements. The team needs to do the following:

A. Gather, analyze, and document business requirements

The BA needs to interview business stakeholders and conduct additional research to gather business or functional requirements. The BA needs to document the business requirements. 

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The following are examples of functional requirements of compliance management software tools: 

• Auditors should be able to conduct compliance audits, file risk assessments, create audit reports, and distribute reports.
• Managers must be able to see compliance-related risks. Actions taken for maintaining compliance must be visible to them on the system.
• Compliance managers should receive granular reports of compliance activities like compliance surveys. The system should produce detailed and customized reporting.
• One must be able to use the system for their team’s training management and storing employee training data.  
• The system should provide learning resources for compliance management processes, industry standards, corporate governance, compliance regulations, international regulations, and regulatory changes.
• Automated workflows for compliance tasks are needed. 
• The compliance management system must show alerts when there are compliance gaps so that the organization can avoid compliance failures.
• Managers should be able to configure the proposed compliance management software so that the leadership team gets timely and specific alerts on compliance violations.
• Organizations should be able to manage compliance-related documents.
• The system should enable timely filing of compliance reports to regulatory and industry bodies.
• The platform must securely store audit documentation, compliance forms, business partner policies, compliance assessments, reports, and other compliance-related documents in a centralized location. Users should get access on a need-to-know basis to ensure secure data management.
• Managers should be able to use the compliance management software to ensure compliance with regulatory obligations concerning data security and privacy.
• The software for compliance management should allow organizations to demonstrate compliance on-demand for all business operations. It should allow managers to proactively run compliance programs to maintain compliance. 
• The tool should enable automation of manual processes.

B. Analyze and document technical requirements

You need the architect to identify and document technical or non-functional requirements (NFRs). The architect might need to study industry standards and benchmarks for this. The following are examples of NFRs:

• Performance;
• Scalability;
• Interoperability;
• Accessibility;
• Security;
• Maintainability;
• Testability.

C. Finalize and document the project scope

With the requirements now written up, you ought to finalize the project scope. We recommend that you offer the proposed compliance management software over the following platforms:

• Web;
• Android (a native Android app);
• iOS (a native iOS app).

We emphasize offering native mobile apps since they offer the best user experience, security, and performance.

D. Review and baseline requirements

Now that you have the project requirements and scope finalized, the PM should implement a requirements review process. The business stakeholders need to approve the requirements and scope. You want to avoid scope creep, therefore, the PM must implement a robust requirements management process.

4. Decide on the technology stack for compliance management system development

The PM and architect should jointly decide on the technology stack. They should cover the following:

A. Web development

You can use JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for front-end web development. Alternatively, you can use popular open-source JavaScript web frameworks like Angular or React. 

Plenty of options exist for back-end web development, e.g.:

• Java;
• Python;
• Golang;
• Ruby on Rails;
• Node JS.

All of the above are good choices, and your organizational preferences play a part in decision-making. For example, some organizations want a JavaScript-only tech stack for web development. They can use Node JS for back-end web development. In that case, you can use the MEAN (“MongoDB-Express JS-Angular-Node JS”) or MERN (“MongoDB-Express-React-Node JS”) stacks. 

B. Mobile development

You should use Java for native Android development, which we hardly need to introduce! For native iOS development, use Swift. Apple promotes Swift considerably for app development targeting its platforms.

C. Database

Use MySQL or PostgreSQL where you need an RDBMS (Relational Database Management System). Both of them are very popular open-source SQL databases. You can use MongoDB if you need to use a NoSQL database. 

D. API development

You might need to develop APIs for the key features of your compliance management software. Create RESTful APIs since many developers already know how to develop and consume REST APIs. 

Note: Your existing IT infrastructure and your cloud strategy influence your decisions to use cloud computing. You might also need to decide on using a private or hybrid cloud. Explore AWS, Azure, or another reputed cloud provider. 

5. Plan the compliance management software development project

You now need the PM to create a comprehensive project plan. The PM should take adequate care to answer several key questions in the plan. A few examples of these questions are as follows:

• Which project management framework fits this project the best? 
• What does the technical solution say about the architecture, technology stack, UI design considerations, etc.?
• How is the work breakdown structure? 
• What is the plan for hiring developers, and what is the expected hiring lead time?
• What does the project schedule look like? In case you plan to use the Scrum framework, then when will the start iteration start?
• Which project management tool fits this project? 

6. Hire a team for compliance management application development

You need to hire capable people for the following roles:

• User interface (UI) designers;
• Web developers;
• Native Android developers;
• Native iOS developers;
• Testers;
• DevOps engineers.

Take the following steps:

A. Decide on the right hiring platform

Developing compliance management software can take considerable effort, and the right developers make a difference. Where should you hire such developers? Will hiring freelancers be a good idea? 

Freelance platforms might enable you to negotiate a low hourly rate. However, you must contend with the following risks:

• Freelancers might not have the relevant experience. You will find it hard to judge the actual level of skills of freelancers during interviews.
• You might not get enough work done by freelancers since they won’t work full-time.
• Managing freelancers might be hard. Remember that freelance platforms don’t offer any project management support.
• Freelancers might leave your project in the middle of it, and you will need to hire replacement developers.

Hiring developers from a trustworthy partner like DevTeam.Space eliminates these risks. You get the following advantages:

• Our rigorous vetting processes ensure that you get quality developers with the relevant expertise.
• We train our developers on our AI-powered agile processes. Our world-class development processes ensure that you get supportable and maintainable code, always. 
• Our developers are full-time. They prioritize your project. 
• You get project management support from us. We provide complementary support from a dedicated tech account manager.

B. Interview developers

Now that you have identified the right hiring platform, you need to interview developers. Your work could be much less here if you hire developers from DevTeam.Space. After all, our comprehensive vetting processes will ensure that you get quality developers.

On the other hand, you need to take very detailed interviews if you hire freelancers. Use our interview questions if you need them. You could use the following:

• JavaScript interview questions;
• Node JS interview questions;
• Java interview questions;
• Swift interview questions.

Focus on evaluating the hands-on skills of developers over theoretical knowledge. You should ask how they solved problems in their past projects. One good idea is to explain your project and ask candidates how they will approach it. You should expect specific responses and not cookie-cutter answers or jargon. 

C. Onboard developers

Assuming that you hired high-quality developers, the PM should onboard them effectively. The onboarding process must cover the following aspects:

• The architect should explain the project requirements and technical solutions to the new developers. Developers need the relevant documents, e.g., business requirements, architecture diagrams, etc.
• The PM should explain the project plan to the new team members. Developers need to understand the project schedule, review process, technical environment, etc.
• The PM should provide the new team members with access to the project’s technical environment.
• An introduction to the existing team should follow with an explanation of the roles and responsibilities.
• The PM needs to set up a communication process with the new developers. 

7. Code, test, and deploy the software for compliance management

You now need the software development team led by the PM to execute the project. The key tasks are as follows:

• The UI designers should follow appropriate guidelines like the Human Interface Guidelines and Material Design Guidelines and design the UI. 
• Software developers should create APIs if needed.
• Web developers need to code the front-end and back-end of the web app.
• Android and iOS developers should code the native Android and iOS apps, respectively.
• Developers need to integrate APIs if applicable.
• Your team should review the code. 
• Testing follows. Testers, developers, and DevOps engineers should collaborate to ensure the closure of test defects and production deployment.
• After providing post-deployment support, the development team should hand over the applications to the maintenance team.

The PM needs to proactively monitor and control the project.

Submit a Project With Zero Risk

Developing a compliance software can be hard work. Our guide will certainly help, however, compliance management system development projects are inherently complex. That’s partly due to the fundamental complexities of regulatory compliance, and technical complexities compound it. You need a very capable software development team, and finding such a team can be hard.

The good news is that we at DevTeam.Space have exactly the developers you need. Our software developers are full-time and highly skilled. We have developers with extensive experience in developing compliance management software tools. They are highly motivated due to our proactive and purposeful human resource management. 

Would you like to know how we can help you to build that winning compliance management software? Fill out the DevTeam.Space product specifications form. A dedicated tech account manager will soon explain the value we offer. 

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