Risk managers and professionals face numerous challenges throughout the client engagement lifecycle. From inception to execution, risk managers must ensure that their firms are providing high value to clients at every stage while also ensuring compliance. By deploying a connected firm management solution based on a cloud technology platform, firms are better equipped to meet both client expectations and firm goals.
Prospecting the Right Clients
Before taking on new business, risk managers must first assess both the work and the prospective client. “At the prospecting stage, risk professionals focus on whether the firm is pursuing high quality clients and work that has value,” said Meg Block, Vice President of Risk Consulting at Intapp. “They want to know that the clients are honorable, and that the work is of interest and importance to the firm.”
Identifying the value of potential clients and matters can be difficult, which is why many firms have invested in connected firm management solutions. A connected firm foundation allows risk managers to access a broad range of crucial information needed for client assessment and conflict checking during the prospecting and business intake processes. Establishing this foundation on a cloud platform offers firms robust self-service capabilities with AI-driven reporting resulting in a more efficient intake process.
Remain Vigilant Throughout the Client Lifecycle
Even after a firm has accepted a client, risk managers must carefully monitor the client relationship. “At the delivery stage,” Block explained, “professionals must monitor all the client’s risk factors. Is the client’s business maintaining its financial standing? Has the client gone bankrupt?”
Intapp Risk & Compliance, an Intapp suite with a connected firm perspective, flags ethical and financial risk indicators throughout the entire client lifecycle. Risk managers can monitor customer finances, corporate trees, and billing activity to successfully manage compliance. By being a cloud-based risk and compliance management system, it further enhances a firm’s ability to monitor regulatory compliance issues that may impact a client engagement, reducing potential exposure to fines and reputational risk.
“Intapp Risk & Compliance is integrated in such a way that firms can receive notifications if there are changes in status that affect the progress of a matter or engagement,” said Block. “Not only that, but firms can also automate key actions such as triggering a new request type or self-generate a conflicts search specific to the changes occurring, There’s no other platform that offers professional services firms the same quality of vision for client lifecycle management.”
Ensure Data Security
In addition to supporting and managing compliance, risk managers must also ensure that they meet all client expectations in terms of data security and privacy. “I think the number one challenge professional services firms face is cybersecurity,” stated Block. “Firms need to protect client information and data privacy.”
Advanced cloud models for risk and compliance management incorporate key elements of secure computing, either meeting or exceeding common regulatory requirements, which makes them much safer than on-premises deployment. In addition to providing a higher level of security, cloud platforms help firms preserve control over data access.
The Intapp Secure Cloud contains the entire Intapp suite of industry-specific, cloud-based software solutions — including Intapp Risk & Compliance — on a single highly scalable and secure platform. The Intapp Secure Cloud delivers all the functional requirements users expect from modern cloud software, equipped with multitenant architecture, enterprise-grade security, robust mobile accessibility, and a full complement of data integrations.
Accelerated Innovation
Advanced cloud-based systems, like Intapp Risk & Compliance, also leverage the most innovative technologies to help firms keep pace with the evolving risk landscape. Unlike on-premises solutions, cloud suites are automatically and continuously updated, providing firms with the latest functionality to help stay ahead of the game without the overhead of manual upgrades.
Organizations such as Baker Botts are already benefiting by deploying Intapp Risk & Compliance, and are seeing accelerations in their risk management innovation. Lance Richards, Senior Manager of Business Intake & Conflicts at Baker Botts, shared his firm’s experience: “Intapp cloud solutions allow us to avoid lengthy upgrade cycles and eliminate costs associated with manual software updates. We can serve our clients with the assurance that we’re using the latest innovations that help us better address the rapidly changing risk landscape.”
Intapp Risk & Compliance is specifically built and designed to support risk and compliance professionals throughout the entire client lifecycle. By offering powerful tools such as AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics, our connected firm platform can help your firm meet its goals, improve its efficiency, and remain competitive in your industry.
Learn more about Intapp Risk & Compliance at intapp.com/risk.
Explore the benefits of cloud migration at intapp.com/cloud.
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Reduce Costs and Enhance Security with Intapp Risk & Compliance Cloud Suite