Governance and Risk
- Aboli Maske
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Governance and compliance in 2025 means proving control effectiveness continuously, not once a year, by turning policies into live workflows and automated evidence across your IT and business platforms.
Why is governance now a live workflow, not a PDF?
Regulators, boards and customers now expect real‑time visibility into risk and compliance posture, making static policy documents insufficient on their own. Continuous change in cyber, privacy and AI regulation forces you to embed controls directly into IT services, data flows and supplier operations.
Across financial services, frameworks such as DORA and similar ICT‑risk regimes require evidence that governance, risk and control are operationalized across assets, incidents, third parties and testing, not just documented in policies. DataLunix responds through solutions like EchoViz, which build common information models and dashboards so firms can move from reactive documentation to ongoing resilience and compliance monitoring.
What macro trends are reshaping Governance and Risk in 2026?
Three macro trends dominate: accelerating regulation, continuous data‑driven compliance and expansion of GRC into ESG, third‑party risk and operational resilience. Together, these trends are pushing organizations to modernize GRC architectures and automate evidence generation across their technology stack.
Regulatory acceleration and complexity
New and updated frameworks such as NIST CSF, PCI DSS 4.0, sector rules like DORA and emerging AI regulations are shortening compliance cycles.
Financial entities in particular must harmonize ICT‑risk processes across multiple pillars, including incident reporting and third‑party risk, which increases pressure on tooling and operating models.
Continuous, data‑driven compliance
Compliance is shifting from periodic checks to always‑on control monitoring, KRI dashboards and automated alerts.
AI and analytics increasingly support risk prediction, exception detection and automated mapping of regulatory requirements to controls, especially in platforms like ServiceNow GRC.
GRC beyond security into ESG and third‑party risk
ESG, supply‑chain resilience and vendor risk are now central board topics, with regulators tying expectations to transparency and continuous monitoring of external partners.
Third‑party risk programs are adopting real‑time monitoring and AI‑based scoring, with studies showing nearly half of organizations already piloting AI in this space by 2025.
Why does traditional, manual GRC fail under 2026 pressures?
Spreadsheet‑driven GRC cannot keep up with regulatory updates, multi‑framework mappings or the velocity of cyber and third‑party risk. Siloed tools and manual evidence gathering also create blind spots, inconsistent reporting and delays that fail board and regulator expectations for near real‑time insight.
Common issues include fragmented ICT governance models, inconsistent third‑party assessments and manual incident reporting that cannot meet stringent timelines under frameworks like DORA and similar regulations. DataLunix sees organizations struggling to coordinate cyber, risk, IT and vendor management, leading to duplicated controls, disconnected registers and error‑prone reporting.
How does a platform‑based GRC model work in practice?
A platform model centralizes policies, risks, controls and evidence in a strategic GRC hub, then extends those controls into operational systems such as ITSM, PSA and monitoring tools. Instead of treating audits as annual projects, controls are embedded in service catalogs, workflows, SLAs and configuration rules that run every day.
ServiceNow typically plays the central GRC and risk management role in this architecture, with HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshworks and ManageEngine providing the “operational rails” where incidents, requests, changes, assets and contracts live. DataLunix specializes in designing these multi‑platform operating models so governance and compliance become measurable, workflow‑driven outcomes rather than after‑the‑fact paperwork.
How does ServiceNow GRC become your strategic governance layer?
ServiceNow GRC provides an enterprise platform to manage policies, map authority documents to controls, orchestrate risk processes and automate evidence collection. In 2026, its roadmap emphasizes AI‑powered risk insights, continuous control monitoring and intelligent dashboards that support frameworks like ISO 27001, NIST and PCI DSS 4.0.
Key capabilities include centralized risk registers, standardized assessments, automated control tests and near real‑time monitoring of KRIs, all feeding board‑ready dashboards and reports. Integrated workflows tie vulnerabilities, incidents and vendor issues to risk records, triggering remediation tasks whenever a control breach or critical issue is detected.
How does ServiceNow support continuous compliance frameworks like DORA?
ServiceNow can map regulatory requirements to policies and controls, track implementation tasks and link them to assets, services and vendors. For digital operational resilience frameworks, its incident, problem, change and vendor modules provide the underlying data required for incident classification, testing records and third‑party risk registers.
DataLunix extends this by designing CSRF/DORA‑aligned information models and dashboards, then integrating ServiceNow with other ICT systems through APIs for unified risk, asset and incident data. EchoViz, for example, draws on ServiceNow and other platforms to populate ICT registers and deliver AI‑enabled insight into resilience posture across the mandated pillars.
How do HaloITSM and Freshservice operationalize governance in ITSM?
HaloITSM and Freshservice embed governance into day‑to‑day ticketing, change and asset workflows, making them powerful operational GRC rails for IT teams. Their features include SLA management, approvals, CMDB, audit trails and automation rules that enforce policy at the point of work.
HaloITSM emphasizes configurable workflows, SLA groups and change governance, including maintenance windows, approval criteria and asset‑linked changes that help demonstrate traceability for auditors. Freshservice offers strong incident, problem, release and asset capabilities with built‑in SLA tracking and audit trails that support compliance around availability, response times and change control.
How do HaloPSA and ManageEngine enforce contract and access governance?
HaloPSA and ManageEngine extend GRC controls into MSP and internal IT operations through contract management, billing, access control and configuration governance. For managed service providers, HaloPSA ensures that customer contracts, SLAs and approval flows are codified in workflows that drive ticket priorities, escalations and reporting.
ManageEngine offers modules for service desk, endpoint management and IT operations that include role‑based access, configuration baselines and compliance reporting. Its asset and endpoint tools support license compliance, patch governance and configuration standards, which are crucial for demonstrating security hygiene and adherence to policies.
How do these platforms together support ESG, AI governance and third‑party risk?
While ServiceNow GRC often owns formal ESG, AI and third‑party risk registers, the operational evidence lives in tools like HaloITSM, Freshservice and ManageEngine. For example, vendor incidents, SLA breaches and configuration deviations in ITSM tools become data points for third‑party risk profiles and resilience metrics in the GRC hub.
AI governance and ESG policies are enforced operationally through workflows such as model change approvals, data‑access requests and sustainability‑related incident categories. DataLunix designs these cross‑tool taxonomies so that every ticket, asset or contract can be traced back to ESG and AI‑governance requirements in ServiceNow or similar platforms.
How does DataLunix design a unified Governance and Risk operating model?
DataLunix approaches Governance and Risk as an operating model problem, not just a tooling choice, starting with mapping regulatory requirements and business risks to processes, data and systems. This includes analyzing where ICT risk, incident management, third‑party management and resilience testing data reside, then defining how they should flow into a unified compliance information model.
Using experience in ITSM, ITOM, ITAM, HRSD, SPM and ESM across ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshworks and ManageEngine, DataLunix builds integrated architectures that standardize workflows, SLAs and asset data. EchoViz complements this by providing DORA/CSRF‑aligned models, APIs and dashboards, giving risk teams a consistent view of assets, incidents, tests and third‑party data across the ecosystem.
What are practical ticket‑level examples of governance in these tools?
GRC becomes visible when you can show a regulator or auditor exactly how a control executes in tickets, assets and approvals. Some practical examples include:
A critical vulnerability in a server automatically creating a ServiceNow risk record, linking to the affected asset and change task, with status tracked until remediation closes the risk.
A HaloITSM change ticket applying a predefined template that enforces segregation of duties, approval chains and maintenance windows, with full audit history.
A Freshservice incident related to a cloud outage triggering SLA breach alerts, executive notifications and post‑incident review tasks that feed operational resilience reporting.
A ManageEngine configuration drift alert raising a ticket and blocking deployment until configuration baselines match policy, helping prove configuration compliance.
How do current statistics underline the shift to continuous compliance?
Industry surveys show organizations are rapidly adopting AI and automation to manage rising compliance demands and third‑party risk. One 2025 global survey cited in third‑party‑risk research notes that almost half of respondents are already piloting or using AI to monitor suppliers, while only about a fifth have not yet started.
Analysts also highlight that compliance is increasingly viewed as part of broader ESG strategies, with cybersecurity and resilience reporting integrated into sustainability and governance disclosures. These trends confirm that organizations must operate GRC as a continuous, data‑driven discipline—exactly what integrated platforms and operating models aim to deliver.
How do ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshworks and ManageEngine compare for governance and compliance?
Below is a simplified view of how each platform contributes to key governance and compliance capabilities for IT and business teams.
Capability | ServiceNow | HaloITSM | HaloPSA | Freshworks (Freshservice) | ManageEngine |
Policy & document management | Native GRC policy lifecycle and authority document mapping. | Basic policy docs via knowledge and templates. | Policies embedded in contracts and PSA workflows. | Knowledge base for policies and service catalog items. | Policy references via knowledge, service desk and ITAM documentation. |
Risk registers & assessments | Full enterprise risk, issue and KRI management. | Risk captured implicitly via change/incident categories and SLAs. | Operational and commercial risks tracked via projects, contracts and tickets. | Operational risks surfaced through incidents, problems and changes. | Risk indicators inferred from asset, patch and security events in IT operations. |
Continuous control monitoring | Automated control tests, AI‑enabled risk signals and dashboards. | SLA breaches, change violations and ticket metrics as control signals. | Contract SLA adherence and billing exceptions as governance signals. | SLA performance, outage metrics and automation logs for control health. | Configuration, patch and license compliance metrics. |
Audit trails & evidence | End‑to‑end audit history across policies, risks, controls and workflows. | Detailed ticket, change and approval logs. | Contract, billing and ticket‑level histories for MSP clients. | Ticket histories, change calendars and asset logs. | Logs across service desk, UEM and ITOM events. |
SLA / compliance reporting | GRC and ITSM dashboards with drill‑down and board views. | SLA dashboards and reports across services. | Client‑level SLA and performance dashboards. | Out‑of‑the‑box SLA reports and service‑health views. | SLA and uptime views in service desk and monitoring modules. |
Vendor / third‑party risk | Vendor risk workspace, assessment workflows and issue tracking. | Vendor incidents and changes captured operationally. | Strong MSP vendor and customer contract governance. | Supplier incidents and SLAs tracked in tickets. | Third‑party risk inferred from monitored endpoints, networks and services. |
ESG & operational resilience | Can host ESG metrics, resilience indicators and DORA mappings. | Resilience supported through incident and change processes. | Supports service continuity metrics for MSP services. | Resilience via incident, problem and release data. | IT resilience metrics through monitoring and UEM. |
How can you start building a next‑generation Governance and Risk stack with DataLunix?
To get value quickly, you should start by identifying 3–5 high‑impact control areas—such as change management, vulnerability remediation or vendor SLAs—and map them across ServiceNow or another GRC hub and your ITSM/PSA platforms. DataLunix typically focuses on quick‑win workflows (for example, vulnerability‑to‑risk‑to‑change, or incident‑to‑problem‑to‑post‑incident review) before scaling into broader registers and dashboards.
From there, the operating model matures into standardized taxonomies, common information models, integration patterns and AI‑enabled monitoring, all aligned with regulatory frameworks like DORA, PCI DSS 4.0 and emerging AI rules. Throughout, DataLunix acts as an independent advisor and implementation partner, helping you choose the right mix of ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshworks and ManageEngine based on digital maturity, scale and budget.
FAQ
How does Governance and Risk strategy change when you adopt ServiceNow GRC?
Your Governance and Risk strategy shifts from document‑centric to workflow‑centric, with risks, controls and policies managed in a single platform. This enables automated control tests, standardized assessments and real‑time dashboards so leadership can see current exposure instead of last year’s audit results.
Can HaloITSM and Freshservice really support compliance, or do you need a dedicated GRC tool?
HaloITSM and Freshservice provide strong operational governance through SLAs, approvals, CMDB and audit trails, which are critical for day‑to‑day compliance. Many organizations pair them with a dedicated GRC platform like ServiceNow to manage formal policies, risk registers and multi‑framework mappings.
Where does Governance and Risk fit for MSPs using HaloPSA and ManageEngine?
For MSPs, Governance and Risk is embedded in how contracts, SLAs, access and configuration baselines are defined and enforced in HaloPSA and ManageEngine. These platforms provide the data needed to demonstrate that commitments to customers and regulators are met consistently across services and environments.
How can DataLunix help align DORA, ESG and third‑party risk in one model?
DataLunix uses solutions like EchoViz and platform expertise to build a common information model across ICT assets, incidents, tests and vendors, mapped to DORA and similar frameworks. ESG and third‑party risk indicators are integrated into this model so boards and regulators can see a single, coherent view of resilience and compliance.
What is the first practical step to modernize Governance and Risk with these tools?
A pragmatic first step is to pick one critical service or regulatory requirement and design an end‑to‑end workflow across your existing platforms, from policy to ticket to dashboard. Once that pattern works, you can replicate it across services and frameworks, gradually building a scalable, automated GRC operating model.
Ready to turn Governance and Risk into a competitive advantage?
If you want your next audit to feel like a replay of what your systems already prove every day—not a scramble in spreadsheets—DataLunix can help. By combining ServiceNow’s strategic GRC capabilities with the operational strengths of HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshworks and ManageEngine, DataLunix designs governance architectures that deliver measurable risk reduction, resilience and board‑ready transparency.
Visit DataLunix or speak with a DataLunix advisor to design a unified, multi‑platform Governance and Risk operating model tailored to your regulatory landscape, digital maturity and growth ambitions.
