GRC tools built for audit, risk, and infosec teams in 2025

Modern governance demands modern tools, but most organizations still rely on outdated systems.

Manual control testing and audit findings still get buried in inboxes or spreadsheets, leaving gaps unaddressed and remediation deadlines missed. Without a connected platform, these small issues grow into repeat findings, compliance failures, and increased risk exposure — all while regulations pile up and threats get more complex.

Two-thirds of organizations report higher risk volume and complexity than in prior years, yet less than one-third describe their risk management processes as mature. Even worse, more than two-thirds still can’t claim they have "complete Enterprise Risk Management in place." That's why forward-thinking companies are investing heavily in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) tools — solutions designed specifically for audit, risk, and infosec teams.

But here's the problem: Most GRC "solutions" are just cobbled-together features from acquisitions or bolt-on modules to existing platforms. They weren't built for how audit, risk, and security teams actually work together. The result? Compliance processes stay siloed, potential risk goes unaddressed, and teams struggle to become truly risk-aware.

The right GRC tool digitizes your existing processes and improves team collaboration around risk. When everyone works from the same connected platform, governance, risk management, and compliance shift from checkbox compliance to strategic decision-making.

Keep reading to discover what sets the best GRC tools apart and how to choose a solution that works for your teams.

What sets purpose-built GRC tools apart from generic platforms

You don't need another bloated checklist platform. You need the best GRC tools designed for the way your teams operate — anything else just slows you down.

Built for risk, audit, and infosec — not just generic governance

Generic GRC platforms dump your policies into a database and call it governance. That misses the whole point. Audit, risk, and infosec teams need tools wired for the way real work gets done — control mapping, evidence pulls, and framework crosswalks, all without late-night spreadsheet hacks.

Here's where it gets real: Cyber risk is on every board agenda. Roughly 82% of organizations rate it as the top threat, but only 60% feel prepared for compliance requirements gaps. Teams using purpose-built tools can map a single control out to SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST in one go. No double entry. No manual cross-referencing.

The real test? Even with 60% readiness, 39% of organizations still reported unexpected losses from major security risks last year. If your GRC tool can't close that gap, it's just more digital paperwork.

AuditBoard turns intelligence into action. GenAI and Intelligent Recommendations surface next steps inside the actual workflow, not as a chatbot, but as part of each task. When a control fails or a risk emerges, the platform flags it instantly, recommends what to do, and puts that prompt in front of the right team.

Audit, risk, and infosec teams resolve issues in context, without toggling tabs or losing momentum. That’s the difference: AI built into the work itself, supporting every decision as you make it.

Why modular, connected tools outperform all-in-one suites

All-in-one GRC suites spread themselves thin. They claim to handle everything but end up missing the features your teams need:

• Audit management needs drag-and-drop scoping, bulk evidence pulls, and versioned workpapers — not just a checklist.
• Risk wants live heat maps, scenario libraries, and automated risk ownership assignments. Excel with a menu bar doesn't cut it.
• Infosec? Continuous control monitoring, breach tracking, and real-time notifications that actually land in your inbox — not after the fact.

Modular, connected tools do the opposite. They give each team specialized workflows, then sync the data automatically. Audit gets sampling tools. Risk gets scenario modeling. Infosec gets real-time control monitoring. All the pieces stay connected, so no group works in a silo.

Here's the difference in adoption: Teams stick with tools when those tools fit their job. Force everyone onto a generic dashboard and watch engagement drop.

This modular approach provides another benefit — adoption. Teams actually use tools that fit their specific needs, not generic interfaces that make their jobs harder.

Trade-offs between flexibility and specialization

You can have total flexibility, or you can have speed. Never both.

Here's how it plays out: Teams pick a generic platform and spend six months customizing fields, building workflows from scratch, and running feedback cycles. By the time it's "ready," new cyber threats pop up and they're stuck rebuilding parts of the process.

Specialized tools? You plug in, set a few configs, and start running real reports that month. Sure, you give up some control, but you skip the endless setup calls and pivot instantly when priorities shift. Start with a real GRC framework — then you'll know exactly what to ask for when you go tool shopping. No wasted cycles. No chasing features you'll never use.

If you want results now, reach for software that works out of the box. If you need every screen pixel-perfect, prepare to lose a quarter or two to tuning and re-tuning your setup.

Key integrations that expand AuditBoard’s value

AuditBoard’s open architecture supports deep integrations with the systems your teams already rely on. Seamless connections with ITSM platforms and asset management tools multiply the impact of GRC by automating issue capture, surfacing new risks fast, and tying every finding directly to business context.

Here's how they stack up in 2025.

AuditBoard

AuditBoard was built by practitioners who know audit, risk, and infosec pain firsthand. It's one connected system with five specialized modules that deliver actionable insights across teams:

AuditBoard gives you five tools that talk to each other:

1. OpsAudit: Plans and runs your audits from start to finish without the paperwork
2. RiskOversight: Shows your risks in clear visual maps so everyone understands what matters most
3. Compliance: Takes the grunt work out of evidence collection, policy management, and reminders
4. Internal Controls Management: Handles internal controls, testing, and sign-off for both SOX and non-SOX frameworks — widely used for global compliance and risk needs
5. CrossComply: Connects your controls to requirements, brings together infosec, compliance, and IT risk (including ITRM and IT asset risk management), and centralizes TPRM (third-party risk management) in one module
6. Analytics & Automation: Surfaces trends, provides real-time dashboards, and puts advanced automation at your fingertips for every team

Organizations using AuditBoard report measurable improvements:

• 30%–40% reduction in administrative hours at Party City
• 500–600 administrative hours saved at ProSight Insurance
• Completion of three additional audits due to time savings at Figure Technologies

You can add as many users as you need without paying extra. No more tough decisions about who gets access. Everyone can use the same system, so everyone finally works from the same information.

ITSM platforms (e.g., Jira)

Jira and other IT service management platforms feed real-time issues, incidents, and remediation tickets directly into AuditBoard. You capture risk signals earlier and eliminate double entry.

Every audit issue, control failure, or infosec vulnerability appears alongside business and IT tickets for fast resolution and a single source of truth. Teams track status and ownership in one place — no moving information across silos.

Asset management & CMDB software (e.g., ServiceNow)

ServiceNow and other asset management or CMDB systems sync directly to AuditBoard. New assets and changes are discovered automatically, keeping risk and control assessments always up to date.

Evidence collection speeds up, since IT and compliance teams know exactly what’s in scope and what’s critical to the business. This connection ensures that asset criticality informs risk and audit priorities every day, not just during planned reviews.

These integrations close the loop between technology, operations, and risk, so teams spend less time hunting for answers and more time acting on what matters.

What to look for in a modern GRC tool

Think about how your teams handle risk and compliance on a typical day. The best platforms don’t just store data; they help you spot real issues, show you what matters now, and make everyone’s job easier.

Unified data across GRC functions

A solid GRC tool brings your audit, risk, and compliance information together. You won’t waste time searching across spreadsheets, inboxes, or scattered folders. When everyone works from a shared set of facts, connections show up fast.

Nothing slips through the cracks, and trends become clear in real time. For instance, if your audit team logs a control failure, risk and compliance teams see the update instantly — no tracking people down or waiting on emailed status updates.

Role-based dashboards and intelligent automation

Not everyone needs the same view. Executives want to see big-picture risks. Managers care about project status. Specialists focus on the details. The right GRC platform gives every person the right level of information, right when they need it.

Smart dashboards and reminders help teams stay focused, and routine tasks finish on time, without constant follow-ups. Imagine your compliance manager gets automatic reminders for overdue evidence, while leadership watches a live dashboard of open risks. No one is stuck emailing spreadsheets or hunting for updates.

Native integrations with existing systems

Your GRC platform should connect with the tools your teams already use — HR apps, IT security systems, document storage, and more. Manually copying or importing data wastes time and causes mistakes. Good integrations keep your information up to date, make audits smoother, and remove the bottlenecks.

For example, when a policy document is updated in your company’s main drive, the right system automatically pulls in the new version. No one wastes time tracking it down or risks using old files.

Scalable and practitioner-friendly design

A modern tool stays easy to use, even as your business grows. You want a GRC platform that handles more users, new business units, and changing regulations without slowing down or becoming a headache. When a system gets clunky or confusing, people fall back on spreadsheets and email (that’s when things get missed).

The best GRC tools let you add users, new teams, or requirements quickly. If your company acquires a new branch, you can get them tracking risks and audits in minutes, not months, so everyone stays aligned and nothing gets lost.

How AuditBoard delivers connected GRC that works

AuditBoard isn't "integrated" just because modules share a logo. Every piece connects live — across audit, risk, and infosec, so findings, risks, and controls all update in real time on one platform. No copy-pasting, no digging in email, no silos.

This continuous compliance approach means your data protection and data privacy controls stay current and effective.

Bring every team into the same platform

Traditional GRC software makes teams bounce between separate dashboards or resort to shadow spreadsheets to keep up. AuditBoard brings internal audit, risk owners, infosec, and compliance leads into a single login, providing one source of truth. Internal audit surfaces open issues, compliance logs control test results, infosec tracks vulnerabilities and incidents. Everyone views the same real data, not conflicting versions.

When an audit discovers a failed control during fieldwork, RiskOversight updates the risk score automatically. Compliance sees which compliance frameworks are affected. Infosec gets real alerts. No lag, no loss of context.

Work smarter with automation

Manual tasks kill momentum. Most GRC program teams bleed hours chasing evidence, nagging for status updates, and building end-of-month reports. AuditBoard puts all that on autopilot.

The platform syncs to your real systems — NetSuite, Workday, Azure AD, and other ticketing, storage, and SOX platforms. Need support documentation? It pulls what you need, where you need it, with no "just following up" emails. Risk owners and auditors get direct task assignments, not vague group asks. When it's time to report, the system exports finished results and full audit trails — no spreadsheet patchwork or last-minute PDF hunts.

The result: your team spends time on actual risk assessment and control improvement, not admin. Less chasing, more solving. This is where AI-powered capabilities in GRC are making the biggest impact.

Scale real programs without rebuilding

Growth shouldn't break your GRC tool. With AuditBoard, you can roll in new entities, add users, or layer on new regulations — without calling consultants or overhauling your setup.

Bring on a new acquisition? Just add their risk registers and users. Expanding SOX coverage or folding in a new framework? No new module needed. You don't get nickel-and-dimed on seats, and you never need a rebuild just to keep up with your own org chart.

Your teams cover more ground, manage more operational risk areas, and add scope, without more manual work or system sprawl. It scales how real businesses actually scale and handles third-party risk management and sustainability reporting as your needs grow.

Choose a GRC tool that works for the way you work

Most GRC software just adds friction. The right platform cuts it out by letting audit, risk, and infosec attack the real work — finding issues, fixing gaps, managing change — without having to fight the software.

Don't let generic platforms box you in with rigid workflows or endless admin. Look for customizable tools built by and for practitioners, where every feature matches an actual need and scaling up doesn't mean starting over.

Ask yourself: Will this system give your teams accurate data, access control, and true end-to-end visibility? Can it flex with new frameworks, new risks, or bigger org charts, without creating another project just to keep pace? Does it provide the key features and metrics needed to optimize your regulatory compliance efforts?

If the answer's no, it isn't built for you.

Ditch the disconnected stuff. Get a risk management solution your teams actually want to use — and that actually helps you work.

Request a demo.

About the authors

Tony Luciani is a Senior Manager of Product Solutions at AuditBoard. Prior to AuditBoard, Tony served as IT Risk and Compliance Manager at Sony Pictures. As a former InfoSec consultant, PCI QSA, and CCSFP Assessor, his experience ranges from performing gap/attestation assessments (i.e. NIST, ISO, CIS, SOC2, PCI, HITRUST, etc.) to facilitating IT risk management programs for customers across multiple industries. Connect with Tony on LinkedIn.