Mbabane – Organisations have been encouraged to stop waiting for quarterly or annual reviews to discover problems, with technology experts advocating for automated governance, risk, performance and compliance (GPRC) systems that allow management to monitor operations in real time.
The call was made during a three-day conference hosted by Johannesburg-based ICT company Wire Speed Systems at Hilton Garden Inn, Mbabane, from September 15 to 17.
The conference, held under the theme, “Driving sustainable value creation through integrated and AI-powered GPRC Systems,” has brought together business leaders and technology experts to discuss the changing role of artificial intelligence and digital systems in organisational management.
A company representative said automated GPRC systems could enable executives to identify performance problems and emerging risks while there was still time to intervene.
“When we automate GPRC processes, we are able to have automated capabilities to track implementation progress,” the representative said.
He said the technology could continuously monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), implementation targets, risks and compliance requirements, with management receiving alerts when performance moved outside predetermined levels.
The representative said organisations should not wait until the end of a financial year or quarter to establish whether their targets had been achieved.
He likened such an approach to conducting a postmortem because by then an organisation could have already suffered the consequences of poor performance.
Instead, he said businesses should monitor lead indicators throughout the year and respond when they begin showing signs of deterioration.
The corrective action, he said, would not necessarily have to be punitive.
It could involve allocating additional resources, changing processes or digitalising certain operations to address the problem before it worsens.
The system can also generate alerts and notifications on overdue tasks, assignments and approval processes.
Colour-coded indicators can show management whether a KPI is on track, at risk or requires immediate intervention, while dashboards provide an overview of organisational performance.
The representative said such capabilities could give executives a clearer picture of what was happening within their organisations without having to wait for periodic reports.
GPRC brings together governance, risk, performance and compliance, four functions that influence how organisations are managed and monitored.
Governance deals with the policies, procedures and internal frameworks used to direct an organisation and meet stakeholder expectations.
Risk management involves identifying and assessing threats that could affect an organisation, including its inherent and residual risks.
Performance management focuses on organisational results, including outputs, outcomes and impact, while compliance covers adherence to internal policies and procedures as well as external requirements such as regulations and international standards.
The company said some organisations continued to manage GPRC functions through spreadsheets, hard-copy strategy documents, risk registers and compliance checklists.
It said automation could bring these functions into a more integrated system, improving monitoring, coordination and reporting.
The representative said this was particularly important in an environment characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, commonly referred to as VUCA.
He said organisations needed systems that could provide management with information quickly enough to respond to changing circumstances.
Wire Speed Systems has operated in the ICT sector since 2012 and has experience working with governance, risk, performance and compliance systems.
The company also operates an ICT academy offering various technology courses and uses the conference to engage business leaders and professionals on developments in AI-powered systems.
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