The Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Risk Management (IRM) evaluates software vendors that provide IRM solutions for various use cases.
The 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Risk Management Solutions, which was published on July 15, was written by Gartner Inc. analysts Jie Zhang and Brian Reed.
Over the last few years, Gartner has advanced its research of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) technology software to meet the changing needs of risk managers and their companies. As such, Gartner has shifted its focus from GRC to IRM.
“Integrated risk management (IRM) solutions combine technology, processes and data to enable the simplification, automation and integration of strategic, operational and IT risk management across an organization,” according to the report.
An integrated risk management approach reduces the chance that risk domains will be siloed. An IRM strategy supports dynamic business decision making through shared risk processes and risk-data correlations.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Risk Management Solutions can help risk managers and security leaders identify technology tools that support an IRM strategy.
To understand and manage risk, companies need a comprehensive view across business units and risk and compliance functions, as well as across suppliers, key business partners and outsourced organizations, according to Gartner. Consequently, software providers are developing new technology to improve the collaborative nature of risk management, inside and outside a company.
To make the best use of IRM tools, organizations need to think about risk appetite vs. risk tolerance. Risk appetite is the level of risk that a company is willing to accept while pursuing its goals. Risk tolerance is the degree of variance from the company’s risk appetite that it is willing to tolerate.
When a company determines that risks go beyond their stated risk tolerance levels, they must develop action plans to ensure that they take the right mitigation steps to meet the risk appetite set by their boards of directors or other governance bodies. IRM tools can help risk professionals and business leaders manage and test their associated risk mitigation efforts.
Although Gartner evaluates the software providers, the research organization makes it clear that it does not endorse any vendor, product or service represented in its Gartner research publications. In addition, Gartner also doesn’t advise technology users to only choose those vendors with the highest ratings or other designations.
“Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact,” according to the company. “Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.”