When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), created by the European Commission, comes into effect on May 25, 2018, across Europe, it will have significant ramifications for global business, including businesses in Canada, which in 2016 was the EU’s 10th most important trading partner, exporting $40 billion worth of products to Europe.
As a primary objective, the GDPR ensures individuals living in the EU have more control over their personal data. Built into the regulation are mechanisms that ensure the enforcement of tighter rules for companies around the handling of data. The ultimate goal is for companies to embrace new technologies in the more efficient processing of the data they own and the data they have yet to collect.
Hinge point
Regulation has always inspired passionate opinions, with one side saying it gets in the way of free enterprise and the other insisting that intelligently crafted regulations help ensure the viability of all businesses over the long term. In passing the GDPR, the European Commission correctly identifies data as a vital “hinge point” for companies inside EU and those around the world that have any European dealings. Companies that fail to comply with the regulation by ensuring the security of the data they collect may be liable for a fine of up to 20 million euros, or four per cent of their worldwide revenue — whichever is higher.
Challenges of the GDPR era
Companies that respect their data and their customers’ data can expect a smooth transition into the GDPR era. However, companies that are overly casual or undisciplined about their data collection methodologies will find the road a bumpy one, or at least one that requires a great deal of planning, focus, and organization. Among the challenges:
- Making sense of requirements – The GDPR comprises over a thousand requirements, many of which can be difficult to “get through,” let alone interpret with confidence.
- Mapping articles – Regardless of what market a company is in, or how well versed a company’s staff is on the GDPR, mapping the 1,064 articles in the regulation to IT use cases will be a daunting task.
- Assigning roles and responsibilities – Coming onside with a regulation as deep and far-reaching as the GDPR involves many roles and personas, which may result in confusion, task redundancies, and overlapping responsibilities. This can get very expensive.
Micro Focus ALM Octane – “ready to go”
Companies will have much less difficulty coming onside with the GDPR if they use a “ready to go” solution such as Micro Focus ALM Octane. Micro Focus ALM Octane is a comprehensive lifecycle management solution focused on enhancing the speed, quality, and scale of delivering software for organizations adopting Lean, Agile, and DevOps delivery practice.
Having the entire GDPR regulation pre-filled in Micro Focus ALM Octane will help companies implement the regulation in time and with confidence. It will also help them to manage GDPR projects efficiently and with professionalism. GDPR in Micro Focus ALM Octane gives companies a bird’s eye view of their compliance effort from requirement to implementation. It features:
- all 1,064 regulation requirements pre-filled in ALM Octane for quick reference;
- the ability to search over all items: requirements, use cases, tests, defects, etc.; and
- the ability to filter requirements by product, phase, and release.
Knowing leads to doing
You can learn more about using Micro Focus ALM Octane to comply with the fast approaching GDPR by visiting the Micro Focus website.
To find out more about the legislation, visit the official FAQ.
To watch a short video about achieving compliance, visit the GDPR & Beyond website.
