Business assurance is a solution that enables businesses to effectively manage these difficulties by building a flexible and effective control structure with real-time monitoring capabilities.
A collection of specialized software tools work together to enable automatic monitoring of controls across the global organization as well as continuous monitoring of crucial indicators, giving managers a complete, up-to-date picture of all key areas:
- Processes are linked to one or more hazards, which are then monitored by the controls that correspond to them.
- The RACI model assigns responsible individuals to controls, ensuring that the proper action is taken at the right time.
- Audits are in place to ensure that vital information is acquired from key employees; collected data is then examined, and if necessary, adjustments are implemented.
- Contract information is also saved in the system, with key personnel being notified when contracts are due or terminated.
- A workflow-based module ensures compliance with rules by guiding each employee through the proper completion of given tasks.
- Finally, business assurance is about giving companies more trust in their control environment and increasing the efficiency of their business processes while keeping reasonable assurance that they are in command of their operations.
Why is Business Assurance Necessary?
When we discuss any firm that is undergoing or has completed a digital transformation, we come across several basic and essential elements that are at the heart of any transformation initiative. Customer Experience, Digital Products, Operations, Strategy, and Digital IT are examples of significant focal areas within a transformation project.
When we talk about hundreds of partners and OTT providers, we also grasp how intricate the digital economy will be. Who will be responsible for their income share or payment terms? Of sure, you have the system administrators, but what is your backup plan? Similarly, who will verify whether the bundled deal that one of your onboarded partners issued last week with a 5-day validity period has ended or is still ongoing? Or how do you know that the omnichannel experience, which is linked to your big data analytics, is being updated following the marketing team's current logic upgrades for pushing recent promotions? Or how do you know the new product strategy, which is based on a 5% market penetration estimate, has actually targeted what was proposed?
We need a system that not only guarantees protocols are followed but also establishes accountability for all of these and other operations. This is a proactive function that operates across the entire value chain. This also aids in the seamless and agile monitoring of any digital transformation project, promoting transparency. Business Assurance will be the ONLY end-to-end monitoring solution and the second line of active defense for a considerably more complicated digital environment for any organization ready to go digital.
How do you go about getting Business Assurance?
Many factors influence or define the scope of BA in the actual world. Because BA has such a broad scope, firms and people try to define it according to their experience and expectations in a certain domain. A risk management expert, for example, would include risk, audit, and operational efficiency in the BA scope. A Revenue Management person, on the other hand, will most likely eliminate risk and audit from their BA scope. This has caused a lot of uncertainty and a philosophical debate in the industry about the actual scope of BA is. Furthermore, the lack of a recognized standard or framework for BA has hampered the field.
Business Assurance Tools
The following are the instruments that are recommended for end-to-end Business Assurance:
- Monitoring Tool for Business Assurance (BAMoT)
- Assessment Tool for Digital Maturity (DiMAT)
- Tool for Revenue Assurance Maturity Modeling (RAMM2)