Governance Risk Management and Compliance

In 2026, governance risk management and compliance is shifting from checkbox audits to a continuous, AI-enabled discipline that underpins digital resilience, trust, and board-level decision-making. Instead of sitting in isolated risk tools, GRC now runs through your ITSM platforms—ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine—where policies, controls, incidents, and evidence actually live.​​

What is modern governance risk management and compliance in 2026?

Modern governance risk management and compliance combines three disciplines—governance (how decisions are made), risk management (how threats and opportunities are handled), and compliance (how obligations are met)—into a single, integrated operating model. In 2025, leading organizations treat GRC as a strategic, data-driven capability rather than a back-office reporting function.​

• Governance sets direction and accountability through policies, decision rights, and oversight mechanisms, increasingly backed by real-time dashboards and risk appetite metrics for the board.​

• Risk management spans cyber, privacy, third-party, operational resilience, ESG, and emerging AI risk, using scenario analysis, stress testing, and continuous monitoring rather than static risk registers.​

• Compliance aligns regulations and frameworks (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, sectoral rules like DORA/CSRF) with control libraries, automated tests, and auditable workflows to reduce manual evidence collection.​​

  
  

Integrated GRC platforms and shared data models are replacing siloed spreadsheets so that the same incident, asset, and change records can support both operations and compliance reporting. ITSM and ITOM tools such as ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshservice, and ManageEngine are becoming the execution layer for those policies and controls, because they already manage tickets, approvals, assets, and logs at scale.​​

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Which 2025 GRC trends matter most for CIOs and CISOs?

In 2025, the most important GRC trends cluster around AI-driven automation, continuous compliance, unified platforms, digital resilience, and the rise of ESG and AI governance. These trends are only practical when embedded into daily workflows on ITSM platforms that your teams already use.​​

AI and automation in GRC

AI and hyperautomation are transforming GRC by automating control tests, anomaly detection, regulatory monitoring, and policy management at scale. Recent research shows that over 40% of GRC teams are already using AI to automate routine compliance tasks, with adoption accelerating across large enterprises.​

• In ServiceNow, AI-powered incident classification, predictive analytics, and Now Assist can automatically flag control failures (e.g., failed backups, overdue changes) and generate remediation tasks tied to specific risks.​

• In HaloITSM / HaloPSA, you can model risk assessments, vendor reviews, and recurring compliance activities as ticket templates with automation rules, turning GRC tasks into structured, trackable work.​

• In Freshservice, modern UX and workflow automation make it easy to embed approval flows for access reviews, policy acknowledgments, and change approvals that double as evidence for audits.​

• With ManageEngine, log analytics, configuration baselines, and endpoint monitoring feed automated alerts when configurations drift from policy, providing near real-time control status for GRC dashboards.​​

  
  

From periodic audits to continuous compliance

Organizations are moving from annual, point‑in‑time audits to continuous compliance and continuous control monitoring, supported by automated data collection from systems, logs, and tickets. This reduces audit fatigue and gives boards a live view of risk posture instead of relying on backward‑looking reports.​

• ITSM/ITOM data—incidents, changes, problems, CMDB, and monitoring alerts—from ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshservice, and ManageEngine can populate continuous compliance dashboards for frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2.​​

• Solutions such as DataLunix’s EchoViz framework for CSRF/DORA show how continuous data ingestion from ICT assets, incidents, and third‑party systems can power always‑on regulatory reporting.​

• Automated evidence attachments to tickets, change records, and monitoring alerts allow auditors to self-serve evidence from the ITSM platform instead of running separate, manual evidence campaigns.​​

  
  

Unified and interconnected GRC platforms

Organizations are actively moving away from fragmented spreadsheets and point tools toward unified or closely integrated GRC ecosystems. Rather than a single monolithic platform, most mid‑market and enterprise environments are converging on a GRC suite plus ITSM, endpoint/security tooling, and identity systems orchestrated through workflows and APIs.​

• ServiceNow can act as the “platform of platforms,” with IntegrationHub connecting GRC modules, ITSM, SecOps, HR, and custom apps to create end‑to‑end control and evidence chains.​​

• HaloITSM, Freshservice, and ManageEngine increasingly participate in “better together” stacks, integrating via REST APIs with specialist GRC tools for regulatory mapping and control libraries while handling execution workflows.​​

• Independent evaluations of GRC solutions consistently highlight centralized control libraries, risk registers, policy management, and integration capabilities as key selection criteria—reinforcing the need for ITSM–GRC convergence.

  
  

Digital resilience, cyber and data protection

Digital resilience, cyber risk, and data protection now dominate GRC agendas, driven by escalating cyberattacks, SaaS sprawl, and stricter regulations such as NIS2 and DORA. Boards increasingly expect GRC programs to support incident response, crisis management, and recovery time objectives rather than just policy documentation.​

• Incident, change, and problem management workflows in ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshservice, and ManageEngine define how your organization responds, contains, and recovers from ICT incidents in practice.​​

• DataLunix’s EchoViz solution for CSRF/DORA shows how a common information model can unify ICT assets, risks, incidents, and testing data to evidence digital operational resilience across five regulatory pillars.​

• By linking incidents to affected services, assets, SLAs, and business owners in the ITSM platform, you can generate resilience metrics (e.g., RTO/RPO adherence, mean time to recover) that feed board‑level risk reports.​​

  
  

ESG, ethics, and AI governance

ESG, ethics, and AI governance are rapidly being folded into GRC programs, with regulators and stakeholders pushing for consistent reporting on non‑financial risks and responsible technology use. Organizations are under pressure to evidence fair AI, energy use, data ethics, and supply-chain practices alongside traditional compliance metrics.​

• IT operations tools can contribute key ESG datapoints—for example, energy and utilization data from ManageEngine, SLA and service quality metrics from HaloPSA and Freshservice, and workflow audit trails from ServiceNow and HaloITSM.​​

• AI governance controls (e.g., model approval workflows, impact assessments, exception tracking) can be implemented as structured request types and change templates in ITSM platforms, with DataLunix helping to design the underlying workflows.​​

  
  

How do ITSM platforms power GRC execution in 2025?

ITSM platforms are becoming the operational backbone of GRC by turning abstract policies and risks into concrete tickets, approvals, changes, and evidence trails. Instead of creating yet another siloed GRC tool, many organizations are choosing to orchestrate GRC execution directly through ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine.​​

Modern GRC and ITSM synergy

Aspect	Traditional GRC	Modern GRC in 2026	How ITSM platforms help (ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, ManageEngine)
Control testing	Manual sampling, annual audits, spreadsheet trackers ​	Automated, AI-assisted tests running continuously on live systems ​	Scheduled change reviews, automated config checks, and monitoring alerts drive tickets when controls fail, with AI triage in ServiceNow and Freshservice. ​
Regulatory monitoring	Ad‑hoc tracking of new laws by compliance teams ​	Automated regulatory intelligence and impact workflows ​	New regulatory obligations are logged as demands or tasks, linked to affected services and owners in ITSM backlogs (e.g., in ServiceNow SPM or HaloPSA). ​​
Evidence collection	Manual evidence campaigns before audits ​	Continuous evidence linked to operational records ​	Attach logs, screenshots, and configuration reports to incidents, changes, and assets; auditors self‑serve evidence from ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshservice, or ManageEngine. ​​
Risk visibility	Static risk registers, limited connection to operations ​	Dynamic risk scores informed by incidents, outages, and trends ​	Incidents and problems tagged with risk categories feed risk heatmaps and reports, while CMDB relationships show business impact in ServiceNow and HaloITSM. ​​
Resilience & recovery	DR plans captured in documents, rarely tested ​	Regular, scenario-based resilience exercises and metrics ​	Change calendars, incident SLAs, and runbooks managed in ITSM platforms provide measurable RTO/RPO performance and test results for frameworks like DORA/CSRF. ​​

Because DataLunix works across ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine, it can help you design a unified GRC operating model that maps your control library onto the capabilities of each platform rather than treating tools in isolation. This multi‑vendor perspective is critical when you want GRC to follow the work wherever it is executed—enterprise, mid‑market, or hybrid.​​

How can you operationalize GRC with DataLunix and ITSM today?

You operationalize GRC by expressing policies and risks as concrete, automated workflows in your ITSM tools—then wiring them into dashboards and reports that business and audit stakeholders can trust. DataLunix specializes in turning multi‑framework GRC ambitions into day‑to‑day execution on ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine.​​

1. Start with an integrated GRC–ITSM blueprint

• Identify your priority frameworks (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, DORA/CSRF, local data protection laws) and map them to control families and owners.​​

• With partners like DataLunix, define which controls will be executed in which platform (ServiceNow vs HaloITSM vs Freshservice vs ManageEngine) and how evidence will flow into a unified register or data warehouse.​

2. Turn policies into workflows and catalog items

• Model access approvals, change controls, vendor assessments, and policy acknowledgments as request types and catalog items in your ITSM portal, with clear SLAs and approvals.​​

• Use HaloPSA or ServiceNow SPM to track remediation projects and control uplift initiatives as structured work with budgets, milestones, and risk impact tags.​​

3. Embed continuous compliance and monitoring

• Connect ManageEngine monitoring, configuration management, and endpoint tools so that deviations from baselines automatically create incidents or tasks tied to specific controls.​​

• Implement continuous evidence capture by enforcing mandatory fields and attachments on relevant ticket types (e.g., change risk assessments, test results, rollback plans).​​

4. Build resilience and ESG/AI dashboards

• Use ServiceNow’s reporting and analytics or equivalent capabilities in HaloITSM/Freshservice to publish resilience metrics, control health scores, and compliance status for your board and risk committee.​

• Pull ESG‑relevant signals—energy usage, uptime, SLA adherence, AI exception logs—from ITSM and ITOM into ESG and AI‑governance dashboards, aligned with emerging regulations.​

5. Leverage EchoViz and similar accelerators

• For financial services and CSRF/DORA‑aligned environments, frameworks like DataLunix’s EchoViz provide a common information model and GenAI‑enabled compliance assistant to accelerate reporting across the five resilience pillars.​

• EchoViz demonstrates how a portable, technology‑agnostic data model and AI can sit on top of your ITSM and ICT tooling to provide continuous, regulator‑ready insights.​​

  
  

FAQ

Q1. Why is governance risk management and compliance now a board‑level priority?

GRC is central to protecting brand, avoiding regulatory sanctions, and enabling digital transformation in a volatile risk landscape. Boards increasingly expect real‑time visibility into cyber, operational, ESG, and AI risks, which is only possible when GRC is tightly integrated with ITSM and operations data.​​

Q2. How can mid‑market organizations apply enterprise‑grade GRC without enterprise budgets?

Mid‑market teams can configure HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine to manage risk registers, control tasks, and evidence using configurable ticket types and automation rather than buying heavy GRC suites. DataLunix often helps these organizations design lightweight yet scalable GRC workflows that can later integrate with specialist GRC tools if needed.​​

Q3. Where does AI governance sit inside governance risk management and compliance?

AI governance is increasingly treated as a core part of GRC, covering model risk, bias, transparency, and regulatory compliance for AI systems. Many organizations are now managing AI model approvals, impact assessments, and exception handling as structured workflows in ITSM tools, with audit trails feeding central GRC reporting.​​

Q4. How can DataLunix help future‑proof governance risk management and compliance programs?

DataLunix combines multi‑vendor ITSM expertise with deep knowledge of digital operational resilience frameworks like CSRF/DORA, enabling organizations to design GRC programs that adapt to new regulations and AI risks. By unifying people, processes, data models, and platforms, DataLunix helps you evolve from reactive compliance to proactive, intelligence‑driven resilience.​​

Ready to turn your ITSM stack into a modern GRC engine?

If you want governance risk management and compliance to move beyond policy documents and into daily execution, you need GRC embedded into the ITSM platforms your teams already live in. Talk to DataLunix about designing an integrated GRC–ITSM architecture across ServiceNow, HaloITSM, HaloPSA, Freshservice, and ManageEngine so your controls, evidence, and resilience metrics are always on—and always ready for the next wave of regulation and AI‑driven risk.