Choosing an External Policy Management Software Provider Can Be a Daunting Process

But it doesn’t have to be. Below are a list of key questions you should be asking any potential provider to help guide you in your decision-making process. We created this list after many of our current clients came to us frustrated with their ‘homegrown’ policy management solutions (Gdoc, Excel) but didn’t know where to start as far as what questions to ask potential providers. And although each of our clients is unique, the goal is always the same: a stronger, simpler process for managing their policies.

Question 1

Does your system provide automatic reminders and notifications? Can overdue reminders use an escalation path?

Question 2

Can we publish policies in multiple languages?

Question 3

Can reviewer workflows adapt to our business processes?

Question 4

Can we self-administer workflows, policies, perform versioning, etc., or does this require vendor intervention?

Question 5

Can we configure the system to automatically calculate policy review dates and notify reviewers?

Question 6

Can your system detect changes between related or dependent policy documents?

Question 7

Can we create custom reports without vendor support?

Question 8

Does your system include a web portal (or will we need to provide another system to access policies)?

Question 9

Does your system segment audiences for deploying, tracking and acknowledging policies by role, region, etc.?

Question 10

Does your system allow for HRIS integration and Single Sign-On?

Question 11

Is your solution audit-ready?

Question 12

Who owns my data? If I leave, am I charged to extract my data?

Question 13

Do you have a client support team? Do you charge for support?

Question 14

Are your data centers in compliance with regional data privacy protection laws?

For information on Steele’s Policy Management software or to speak to an expert visit us here.