Risk Management as a Service (RMaaS) is a service provided to firms that are looking to provide its organization with thorough and efficient tools that not only assist in managing overall business risk but also provide timely information to make sound business decisions, control the expenses associated with non-revenue producing activities, and offer robust data analytics to support on-going business risk monitoring.

Common forms of RMaaS include:

Business Process & System Mapping
Internal Control & Audit
External Threat Mitigation
Governance, Risk & Compliance Services (GRC)
Financial Risk Management
Information Security
Disaster Preparedness & Business Continuity

Firms benefit greatly when all risk management activities are integrated with its on-going business processes and provide firm management with a complete view of the firm's operations and can make decisions that are supported by risk adjusted information. This full-circle view of the firm can provide a competitive advantage over other firms because having a good view and understanding of a firm's operational risk footprint provides it with a reference point for management to make a determination to move in new business directions and take on more risk or reduce exposure in other areas to curtail risk. This form of RMaaS solution encompasses business intelligence solutions and incorporates risk management systems and control methodologies into an overall firm management and decision making support service.

Solution providers in the RMaaS business space may provide activity specific solutions to mitigate specific and targeted risks. Specialist firms may provide hedging and other financial management services to mitigate the financial risk of firms for instance, while other firms may provide information security, compliance and surveillance platforms to manage GRC requirements for firms. There are also providers that will actually accept the transfer of risk away from a firm which in essence is what insurance providers do.

RMaaS can be either a fully outsourced solution or a hybrid solution where business requirements may dictate that sensitive activities still be handled in-house, such as in the case of heavily regulated industries such as financial services, health care, and energy. The difference between the two forms of RMaaS service is where and with whom the company data is maintained and managed. A fully out-sourced solution essentially provides a firm with a virtual compliance and risk management office which manages and analyzes the data from which executive management and their designated risk manager receive analytics through reports and dashboards to augment risk assessments and support on-going business decisions. With a hybrid solution the RMaaS service provider supplies the firm with analytical tools that rest on top of existing internal systems to provide business analytics.

Optimal Risk Management within an organization involves coordinating all business risks and integrating them into on-going business processes and incorporating risk adjusted analysis into decisions to undertake new business processes.

See how the RMaaS process solution from FastPepper Solutions™ will let you see your business in a new way.

Regulatory and Compliance Risk: In one way or another every business has to follow externally dictated and enforced rules while conducting business operations. In every jurisdiction every business must be tax compliant, usually have some form of business registration, license or permit to conduct its activities, and frequently may have to submit to some periodic government required audit, exam, or reporting requirement.

There are some industries, such as financial services, health care, energy, and transportation, that not only have to operate within complex regulatory systems but face severe sanctions for non-compliance. The risk here lies in both the actual occurrence of operating in a non-compliant way, but also the potential of regulator imposed business interruption, and loss to business reputation and subsequently the loss of customers as a result.

Information Security Risk: The potential impact of a company losing control of its information either from externally sourced intrusion and data extraction or by loose or ill-defined internal information security policies can be quite severe and lead to significant financial losses to an organization.

The portability of information which can be a boon to business operations also presents a significant security threat to the organization that must be addressed with an internal control and monitoring system that both mitigates the threat and allows for the fluidity of business to continue uninterrupted. In addition, it is not only what technology that is deployed within an organization, but how people are using it.

Fraud/Misappropriation & Theft Risk:Every organization is susceptible to fraud, misappropriation and theft, whether perpetrated by an insider, or by an external party that finds an opportunity to exploit. The risk here lies in the way that the risk scenario typically unfolds where the activity is conducted either over a very long period of time, or is a single event, in either case they both can go undetected for some time. The potential loss to the organization can become significant financially but also from a brand standpoint as the news of the event reaches customers and potential customers.

Financial Risk:How a company manages its finances is critical and the process and procedures that are in place for managing accounts receivable, accounts payable, the extension of credit, financing, disbursements, and accounting practices is critical in mitigating and avoiding financial risks to an organization.

Competition Risk:Business by nature is competitive and companies are always under the threat of industry innovation, product maturity and stagnation, new entrants, and variable market forces. Business operations, management, and sales activities need to be understood in concert with each other and coupled with business intelligence and competitive analysis to understand the competitive forces that the organization faces.

Disaster and Business Continuity Risk: It is one of the unfortunate consequences of nature and man-made threats that businesses must plan for the possibility that its activities will be interrupted by some outside, uncontrollable force.

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