IT Compliance in Modern Enterprises: Aligning Technology with Regulatory Demands

Organizations using digital solutions must meet numerous legal, regulatory, and industry requirements that govern information handling, storage, and protection. However, the more digitalization across core business processes, the greater the exposure to compliance-related risks.

Under these circumstances, IT compliance is indispensable to seamless operations and business growth. Cyber threats keep on growing, and at the same time, rules and regulations tighten globally—this means, one must secure operational integrity. This can be achieved only with fully compliant solutions.

At Andersen, we regard IT compliance as an absolute necessity. Let us outline its most important characteristics and explain how to implement strong and reliable compliance mechanisms within a firm.

What is IT compliance?

The concept itself covers how a company ensures that its digital systems and activities meet applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards. Every vital aspect is considered here—from data protection to security protocols. Naturally, the specific branch in which an entity operates also matters and determines important details.

Essentially, information technology compliance is about aligning digital operations with external requirements—for instance, the GDPR in Europe, the HIPAA in healthcare, or the PCI DSS for dealing with payment data. It also involves internal responsibilities such as maintaining documentation, conducting inspections, or managing access rights.

Furthermore, employees must be fully aware of their legal duties. That’s why companies should introduce thorough and timely training.

In this context, one needs to distinguish between IT compliance and IT security compliance. The former encompasses meeting regulatory obligations. The latter is more about introducing and employing technical controls to prevent breaches or improper data handling. While closely related, IT security represents just one aspect of a larger compliance framework—it cannot replace comprehensive compliance measures.

Why organizations need IT compliance

If you neglect IT compliance regulations in any way, this will lead to grave consequences. Penalties can reach millions in fines; operational disruptions can paralyze core systems; and perhaps most damaging, reputational harm can erode customer trust and investor confidence.

Let’s take Meta, for example. In 2023, it faced a fine of €1.2 billion under the GDPR for transferring the sensitive information of European users to the US without proper safeguards. Or British Airways, penalized £20 million after a preventable breach that exposed thousands of customer records. All this happened because of insufficient compliance measures. Needless to say, these incidences have seriously affected the reputation of both organizations.

Statistics from the 2024 Thales Data Threat Report add further details: 43% of businesses failed a compliance audit in 2023. Also, those organizations were ten times more likely to experience a serious cybersecurity attack with a subsequent leaking of data. Facts like these only prove the obvious: IT compliance and security are indispensable frontline defenses against risk.

Beyond fines, there are other things to consider as well. Fully compliant solutions are necessary for operational stability. They strengthen the trust and confidence of a company’s partners and regulatory bodies and secure enhanced transparency and accountability across digital ecosystems. As technology drives nearly every interaction nowadays, each and every aspect should meet all the necessary standards. That’s why you should make IT compliance an integral part of your entire business strategy.

Key IT compliance standards to be aware of

Globally active organizations, SMEs, and startups operate under various IT compliance standards.

The following ones are widely recognized:

• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) outlines requirements for managing the personal information of individuals within the European Union;
• In the US, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) establishes rules for safeguarding medical records and health-related data;
• PCI DSS was developed to secure credit card transactions;
• SOC 2 provides a set of principles for evaluating how service organizations manage customer information;
• ISO 27001 offers a globally recognized blueprint for building and maintaining robust information security management systems.

Each comes with its own set of IT compliance requirements, be it encryption, attack notification procedures, employee training, or access control. The level of obligation differs across sectors: what a fintech startup needs to enforce under the PCI DSS can be vastly different from what a hospital must maintain under the HIPAA.

Geographical differences add complexity. An entity having offices in various regions must meet all regional regulations. This means, it must simultaneously deal with federal, state, and international requirements.

The pace of legislative change is another challenge. As software products develop and become more complex, threats multiply as well. This naturally leads to tightened compliance obligations. That’s why organizations must continuously update their policies, re-evaluate their IT infrastructures and separate digital products, and stay alert to new mandates.

Securing well-thought-out IT compliance management

If you need to create a sound IT compliance management program, you should understand your risks first. Which is even more important, carry out assessments on a regular basis. Thanks to them, you will be able to detect potential vulnerabilities in your systems and operations. Also, this will help you spot certain behavior patterns that can entail violations. You should have clearly defined policies and procedures that meet applicable standards.

Moreover, if you draft an IT compliance management checklist, make sure it encompasses:

• Staff trainings to promote understanding and minimize mistakes;
• Permission management and identity verification to protect sensitive data;
• Encryption of information in storage and transit;
• Surveillance solutions to flag irregularities and potential cyberthreats;
• Incident response protocols for prompt identification and resolution of incidents;
• Regular audits to verify adherence to legal requirements and organizational guidelines.

Nowadays, with robust AI tools at hand, many things can be enhanced. Thus, automation greatly contributes to making solutions and processes compliant. Tools that monitor system activity, enforce access restrictions, and track data flows can minimize oversight and guarantee consistency.

One important thing to consider: like with any serious undertaking, you should rather anticipate certain events than react to them. For this, you need to have a proactive, compliance-first mindset. You should build regulations into your processes and product development from the outset. As a result, you’ll see your overall resilience increase.

What’s more, you’ll thus react to any legislative innovations quickly, secure the trust of your customers and partners, and minimize disruption in case of audits or incidents.

How Andersen supports its clients in compliance-related matters

Andersen regards IT compliance as a vital value and ensures it is embedded in all our operations and the solutions we deliver. We take the peculiarities of each industry in consideration and carefully assess the risk profiles of our clients. Healthcare regulations, financial data protection, or cloud security frameworks—we develop strategies that embed compliance into digital operations of companies operating in various sectors.

First, we examine the unique context of a company we cooperate with. Through comprehensive risk assessments, we identify gaps in its current setup and bring its systems in accord with specific IT compliance standards. After that, we help our client implement the necessary controls—from encryption and authentication to monitoring and audit processes.

For organizations with complex regulatory needs, we also develop custom IT compliance solutions built specifically for their operational environment. We have already delivered tailored software that complies with GDPR, PSD2, AML, KYC, PCI DSS, and other critical standards.

Our solutions cover the following:

• Integrated transaction monitoring tools designed to trace and eliminate AML risks promptly;
• Audit and knowledge management systems that fully meet jurisdictional rules and internal policies;
• Smart document flow automation to cut down human error in reviewing non-standard documents;
• Regulatory reporting solutions that aggregate current compliance metrics, improving governance and transparency;
• Tailored client onboarding and complaint management systems.

When developing such systems, we make sure they can easily scale and thus support long-term compliance strategies. That’s why we put a special emphasis on usability, safety, and continuous compliance.

Let us give you an example. We have built a compliance automation solution for a FinTech company. This tailored tool greatly enhances client onboarding, automates compliance checks, and integrates risk data from external sources like sanction and credit registers. Thanks to this product, our client has seen a notable decrease in manual errors and non-compliance issues.

In addition to development, we also offer IT consulting services to support our clients in achieving and maintaining compliance over time.

Conclusion

Businesses that take IT compliance seriously demonstrate responsibility, professionalism, and forward-thinking leadership. No matter all the restrictions and limitations, you shouldn’t think of it as a burden—it helps you grow sustainably and gain more recognition.

So, you should evaluate your existing compliance mechanisms. Does your infrastructure correspond to all industry standards? Are you prepared for regulatory audits? If you aren’t certain enough, Andersen is here to support you. Whether you need guidance, technical solutions, or a long-term compliance partner, we offer the expertise to support initiatives of any complexity.