Companies are getting a 402% return on their GRC investment

ACL recently announced that an independent study found an international airport management organisation that deployed the firm’s full data-driven audit and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) management platform achieved a return on investment (ROI) of 402%. It also considerably improved the organisation’s operational efficiency. ACL commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct “The Total Economic Impact™ of ACL” study in December 2016.

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To measure the benefits, costs and risks associated with the ACL Platform, Forrester applied a multi-step methodology to evaluate the impact of the technology investment on the organisation, who has used ACL’s analytics-driven GRC platform for several years. The study concluded the total cost savings and value creation for the customer in using the ACL Platform totalled US$1.66M (net present value) over a three-year period.

“We believe this Total Economic Impact™ study showcases ACL’s capabilities beyond internal audit applications to other areas such as operational and compliance risk management,” said Dan Zitting, chief product officer at ACL. “By connecting disparate data sources and implementing continuous monitoring analytics, organisations can more efficiently manage risk and identify opportunities across departments, as well as empower senior management to make data-informed decisions.”

The study identified the following quantifiable benefits that the organisation experienced by using the ACL Platform:

• Reduced frequency and impact of avoidable risk events by 50%. With better and timelier access to key process data using the ACL Platform, the organisation can quickly identify when a task or procedure is non-compliant, enabling managers to identify and deal with issues before they happen. As a result, ACL software has helped reduce the frequency or duration of avoidable airport or terminal shut-down events by 50 percent.
• Improved corporate performance and revenue generation. Additional profits of more than US$650,000 (risk-adjusted, net present value over three years) can be attributed to improved decision making due to access to fresh, reliable and comprehensive data reports and dashboards. Corporate leaders, able to make data-informed decisions, can more quickly take advantage of strategic opportunities and manage risks, lowering costs and increasing revenue.
• Increased audit efficiency and reduced audit cost, with 33% more audits completed. Since audit teams using ACL software can easily configure access to data sources and can conduct both planned and ad hoc reviews quickly and accurately, the organisation saw a 33-percent improvement in the number of audits completed (increased to 48 from 32) and a 50-percent reduction in the amount of time it takes to complete some audits (decreased audit cycle from four weeks to two).
• Improved human resource allocation. With improvements in processes and efficiency, the team was able to reallocate two audit professionals to other under-resourced departments (25-percent reduction in required staffing resources) saving the organisation nearly $550,000 (risk-adjusted, net present value over three years).

In addition to these value-added benefits, Forrester identified several qualitative benefits to using ACL’s data-driven GRC platform. Examples include productivity improvements and cost savings due to operational improvements accomplished with the improved monitoring and management of issues across departments, such as shorter security lines, improved food handling in restaurants and reduced risk of retailer shortages. Additionally, the use of ACL has led to improved data collection and report creation, quicker operational risk reviews and improved decision making—all with a smaller team. The study found that initial total deployment time for implementing the ACL solution and staff training was two months.

According to the program manager at the international airport:
“ACL was part of a total solution that delivered the right software tools to the right personnel for the right activities…ACL enables us to get so forensic and so precise that it means there is essentially no hiding place. So, it means that the business would take us more seriously than they did previously.”

To read the full study, “The Total Economic Impact™ Of ACL: Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By The ACL Platform,” including a detailed financial analysis, visit: www.acl.com/portfolio-items/forrester-total-economic-impact-study-on-the-acl-platform/