Let's start with a basic answer to the question in the title.
A GDPR system is a platform that helps you ensure compliance with the GDPR through templates, frameworks for ongoing compliance audits, infrastructure for security measures, etc.
In the same way that you use an accounting system to comply with the rules for ongoing bookkeeping and the Annual Accounts Act, a GDPR system acts as a centralised infrastructure for everything related to GDPR compliance.
Of course, it depends very much on the individual GDPR system which specific tasks you can fully or partially handle via the platform. Some of the features and tasks worth highlighting include, among others
You need to comply with GDPR. There's not much to quibble about here. But how you ensure you're on the right side of the law is your decision.
A GDPR system can help you stay on top of your compliance activities, and in many cases, it will be a better solution than saving a few thousand dollars a month by using Excel - or doing nothing at all.
Let's take a closer look at the main benefits of implementing GDPR software in your organisation.
One of the things that often causes grey hairs when it comes to GDPR compliance is organisational and structural clutter that can lead to data loss. It could be a folder infrastructure that is impossible to understand or unclear procedures for where specific personal data should be stored.
This may be fine if there are one or two people who have the overview and can take responsibility for the way you do things today, but what if those stakeholders stop at some point or fall ill? Compliance never takes a holiday.
With a GDPR system, everything is in one place and there are clear guidelines for the use of the different functions. This provides a more structured approach to compliance work, which also minimises the risk of errors or vulnerability to organisational change.
The vast majority of GDPR systems offer some degree of automation or templates to make your work easier. Out with manual processes that suck the life force out of most people, and which in themselves don't add any value, but just have to be done.
If you choose a solution that provides you with worksheets, templates, and other support tools, you will not only save time on the actual preparation of relevant documents. You may also be able to streamline other parts of your compliance processes by setting up automated workflows, including reminders and notifications for deletions, activities, and controls, for example.
Technology and law never stand still, which means that what was legal yesterday is not necessarily legal tomorrow. Especially when it comes to personal data and data security, things are moving fast, which requires you to keep yourself and your processes up to date.
With a GDPR system, you are not alone with this task. The platforms obviously have an interest in adapting to changes in relevant legislation, so that large parts of the things that affect you and your business are either solved directly by your software solution or by encouraging you to do it yourself.
Depending on whether you choose to buy or build your own solution (read our article on the subject here), you can get started relatively quickly with implementing the vast majority of platforms. So if you're working with a home-built setup today, you don't have to worry that you'll have to start from scratch and won't be up and running for another six months. For most systems, you can be up and running within a few days.
You only realise the importance of good support and advice when you need it - a bit like insurance. If you have a large internal IT department in your company today, this point may be less important, although if nothing else, you can use your system supplier for sparring. If you work in a smaller company without major IT competencies, support and advice can be worth their weight in gold.
As you will find out in the following section, there are many options and platforms to choose from.
Some are well suited to specific industries and niches; others are more general and cover businesses across sectors.
Some focus on small and medium-sized businesses; others on large corporate and enterprise solutions.
And then there are platforms that work exclusively with a small branch of compliance, while others try to be as broad as possible.
Unfortunately, there is no formula for what the right choice is in your particular context. It depends on a lot of things that differ from organisation to organisation. Nevertheless, we have tried to summarise the factors that have the greatest influence on your choice of solution below:
Ask yourself the above questions - then you will be well prepared to go out into the market based on what is important for your particular decision and choice of supplier.
So far, so good. You now have an idea of what the GDPR software market has to offer. You might even have made a small list of the options that are interesting and that you need to talk to. But what do you need to remember to ask to get a full overview of the pros and cons?
Here are our suggestions for the 10 most important questions to bring to the meeting with a potential supplier of your GDPR system:
With the above questions in your backpack, you now have a basic insight on which, together with the more specific questions for your organisation, you can make a decision.
At .legal, we help companies on a daily basis to clarify their needs regarding the choice of privacy platform, and can also help answer your questions. Book a demo here or send your questions by email.
If you want to try a platform on your own, you can test the .legal Privacy Platform free of charge and without obligation for 30 days.