Announcing the OneTrust Ethics & Compliance Cloud

Today, OneTrust is thrilled to announce the launch of the Ethics and Compliance Cloud, building the Convercent by OneTrust technology directly into the OneTrust platform. The OneTrust Ethics and Compliance Cloud enables ethics, compliance, HR, and legal teams to unite people, process, and technology across Ethics Program Management, Speak-Up Culture Assurance, and Third-Party Due Diligence in a unified cloud platform. With this launch, the future of ethics and compliance is not just here, it’s tangible.

The practice of ethics and compliance has evolved gradually over decades, but the pandemic accelerated digital transformation at an astonishing speed. However, even well-resourced compliance programs still face challenges, with their foundational initiatives running in individual siloes: a helpline and case manager over here. Disclosures over there (maybe even still in a spreadsheet). A PDF-based code of conduct on the company intranet. And policies… everywhere, in many versions, with rudimentary engagement tracking or none whatsoever.

But with today’s launch, the change we’ve spied on the horizon – truly integrated programs with the risk visibility to match – is here. Ethics and compliance practitioners are increasingly strategic thinkers, with big dreams of making their businesses better places to work, better partners, and better contributors to their communities. And now, we have the technology to make that vision real.

True ethics and compliance innovation to meet the evolving demands of employees, customers, regulators and more

In the year since OneTrust acquired Convercent, our team has been hard at work considering how best to bring Convercent’s human-focused compliance solutions onto the OneTrust platform. We want our customers to see themselves, and be seen, as strategic partners to the business. We want your employees and partners to know what’s expected of them and to feel safe raising concerns. Most of all, we want your companies to earn trust by building a strong culture of ethics that permeates every level of the org chart. This last outcome is more important than ever during “The Great Resignation,” when one in four Americans have left their job. A recent study found that nearly 60% of those who quit or plan to quit said that they were looking for a company that fit better with their personal values. Seventy-six percent of survey respondents said they had higher expectations for prospective employers than they did three years ago. Add to that the recent spike in burnout and moral injury at work during the pandemic, and it’s clear that to succeed, we must be better equipped to build ethics and trust into our company’s DNA.

In bringing Convercent’s technology onto the OneTrust platform, we had a unique opportunity to solve many of the challenges our customers were facing – siloed compliance management, risk visibility muddied by disconnected systems, hours of work to build board presentations, low case volumes, and disengaged employees. These challenges represent real risks to your companies, in the form of potential enforcement actions, fines, and reputational damage – but they also make it difficult for you to prove your value as a team that creates real business impact, and not a cost center or the dreaded “department of no.”

What is the OneTrust Ethics and Compliance Cloud?

Solving these challenges requires a vast set of capabilities – effective case management, human-centric intake for whistleblowing and disclosures, engagement tools informed by marketing techniques and behavioral science, interactive content and training, efficient third-party triage and due diligence – but more important, it requires those tools to work together so your team gets true risk visibility and meaningful analytics. Convercent’s Ethics and Compliance Platform had many of the pieces in place, and the OneTrust Ethics and Compliance Cloud builds on that foundation and adds much more.

Some of the new additions have already been launched. Last fall, we premiered Third-Party Due Diligence for Ethics and Compliance. Earlier this spring, we launched Ethics training with a library of 14 compliance training courses. And just this month, we launched anti-retaliation features for all Helpline and Case Manager customers. But the OneTrust Ethics and Compliance Cloud will bring intelligence, scale, and automation to each of these initiatives in a single platform, aligned to three trust management areas:

• Ethics Program Management: Inform, engage, and train employees with an Interactive Code of Conduct, Ethics Policy Management, and Ethics Training.
• Speak-Up Culture Assurance: Enhance your speak-up culture with targeted Helpline engagement, streamline investigations with Ethics Case Management, and proactively mitigate risk with Disclosure Management.
• Third-Party Due Diligence: Manage third-party risk with automated screening, due diligence, risk management, and ongoing monitoring.

With your ethics and compliance initiatives working together on the same platform, you’ll gain back the time you spend managing disparate workflows and consolidating information from multiple sources, get richer insights, and be empowered to make better decisions about the ethical health of your company.

How does the OneTrust Ethics & Compliance Cloud fit into The Trust Intelligence Platform?

The Trust Intelligence Platform from OneTrust introduces the first in a new category of software for businesses to start and scale trust initiatives. Trust Intelligence delivers visibility across trust domain areas, action based on AI and regulatory intelligence, and automation to build trust by design as a reflex in organizations. The platform unifies Privacy & Data Governance, GRC & Security Assurance, Ethics & Compliance, and ESG & Sustainability programs where teams, data, and processes can integrate, giving businesses a centralized view, report, and understanding of business trust.

The Trust Intelligence Platform is built on an intelligent engine that integrates global frameworks, standards, and regulations so companies can track compliance with various laws. Benchmarking, insights, and reporting capabilities enable leaders to understand how their program is developing and assess program maturity compared to industry peers. Trust Centers give stakeholders a dynamic, engaging, and centralized view of all of a company’s relevant policies, data, and reports in a way everyone can trust from OneTrust and verify.

Companies can choose to start their journey to building trust with one cloud in the platform and build into other trust domains as the program matures. The Trust Intelligence Platform includes:

• The OneTrust Privacy & Data Governance Cloud: People demand greater control of their data, unlocking an opportunity for organizations to use digital interactions to go beyond compliance and build trust through transparency, choice, and control. The OneTrust Privacy & Data Governance Cloud helps companies adopt best-in-class privacy practices, so individuals trust them with their data, allowing them to deliver more valuable experiences and create business value through trust.  Trust domains include Privacy Management, Data Governance, Consent & Preferences, and Responsible AI.
• The OneTrust GRC & Security Assurance Cloud: The global threat landscape evolves each day, bringing new and unexpected risks to people and organizations. The OneTrust GRC & Security Assurance Cloud helps companies and supply chains stay resilient in the face of continuous cyber threats, global crises, and natural disasters—so organizations can operate with confidence. Trust domains include Governance & Policy Management, IT Risk & Security Assurance, Third-Party Risk, and Audit & Compliance Management.
• The OneTrust Ethics & Compliance Cloud: The most resilient organizations nurture a culture that fosters ethical behavior where everyone feels empowered to speak up, share their perspectives, ask challenging questions, and raise concerns without fear of retaliation. The OneTrust Ethics & Compliance Cloud fosters and promotes an open and safe environment for employees, maximizing insights into the health of a company’s culture, so leaders can act decisively upon areas of risk.  Trust domains include Ethics Program Management, Third-Party Due Diligence, and Speak-Up Culture Assurance.
• The OneTrust ESG & Sustainability Cloud: People want to buy from, work for, and invest in businesses that positively impact people and the planet in ways that everyone can understand and verify. The OneTrust ESG & Sustainability Cloud offers organizations the ability to define core environmental and sustainability metrics, track progress towards those goals, and foster trust with key stakeholders through enhanced transparency. Trust domains include Carbon Accounting, ESG Program Management, and Supplier Sustainability & Responsibility.

Learn more about The Trust Intelligence Platform from OneTrust.