A Gap Analysis is a systematic assessment that identifies discrepancies between an organisation’s current practices and the requirements of a specific regulatory framework or industry standard. It is ordinarily the first step in achieving compliance and provides a clear roadmap for aligning processes and policies with the applicable standards.

Key Objectives

1. Gap Identification: Highlight areas where the organisation does not meet regulatory requirements.
2. Prioritize Actions: Offer actionable recommendations to address the identified gaps in an efficient manner.

Common Focus Areas

• Data Processing and Documentation: Ensuring proper records and documentation of relevant activities.
• Legal and Regulatory Requirements: Verifying compliance with specific legal provisions or industry standards.
• Stakeholder Rights: Analysing the organisational mechanisms to address rights or requests from stakeholders, such as customers or employees.
• Security Measures: Assessing the adequacy of technical and organisational safeguards.
• Third-Party Risk Management: Reviewing contracts and compliance practices of vendors, processors and partners.
• Governance and Training: Evaluating internal policies, training initiatives, and governance frameworks.

Deliverable

The analysis results in a Gap Analysis Report, which includes:

• Identified areas of non-compliance.
• Practical suggestions and recommendations for remediation.
• A prioritized action plan to achieve compliance.

Procedure

• Step 1 – Consultations with Key Stakeholders: In this stage, our specialists hold consultations with the key stakeholders of the organisation, such as the concerned person(s) from the organisation’s Development team, IT department and HR department. The objective of this stage is to evaluate the present privacy infrastructure of the organisation.
• Step 2 – Identification of Compliance Gaps: This stage encompasses the identification of any limitations (or compliance gaps) in the present privacy infrastructure, on the basis of the findings from the previous step.
• Step 3 – Preparation of Report: Upon successful identification of the compliance gaps and chokepoints, a Gap Analysis Report is prepared. The report includes the findings of the analysis, the compliance gaps identified and the suggested course of action required to achieve compliance.
• Step 4 – Presentation of Report and Action Plan: At the final stage, the Gap Analysis Report along with the Action Plan is produced and presented to the organisation for discussion.

Project Timeframe

The project typically requires about 2 to 4 (two to four) weeks. However, the timeframe may vary depending upon the size of the organisation, the number of departments and the scale and magnitude of processing activities.

Benefits

1. Strategic Decision-Making: The purpose of a gap analysis is to discover the existing compliance gaps and subsequently develop a roadmap (or action plan) to close such gaps.
2. Risk Mitigation: The conduction of a Gap Analysis assists organisations in eliminating compliance risks by highlighting the vulnerabilities or weaknesses in processes, systems and policies.
3. Enhanced Operation Efficiency: A Gap Analysis identifies the redundancies and inefficiencies in business processes thus optimising the overall efficiency.
4. Improved Readiness for Audits and Certifications: The performance of a Gap Analysis is usually the first step towards audit readiness, assessments and certification.
5. Stakeholder Trust and Confidence: By demonstrating an organisation’s commitment to meeting industry and regulatory standards, a Gap Analysis instils trust and confidence with customers, investors, partners and regulators.