The Growing Compliance Burden for GRC Teams

The Growing Compliance Burden for GRC Teams

Is your organization ready for its next audit or are you just hoping for the best? Because if it’s the latter, let’s be honest, that’s not preparation. That’s chaos. Audit season feels less like a routine checkpoint and more like a race against chaos. As regulations multiply and security expectations rise, many organizations find themselves unprepared, overwhelmed, and exposed. According to our latest research report, GRC Chaos: The High Price of Audits and Non-Compliance, security and compliance teams are overwhelmed by manual processes, fragmented tools, and competing priorities—all while the cost of non-compliance continues to rise. 

To uncover the extent of the issue, we surveyed 500 IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across the US and UK. The findings are clear: organizations are struggling to keep up with growing regulatory demands, and legacy approaches are no longer enough.

Keep reading to discover the top takeaways from the report. 

1. The Compliance Burden is Getting Heavier

A staggering 96% of respondents say it’s challenging to keep up with the growing number of regulations. Despite best efforts, only 29% of organizations say their compliance programs consistently meet internal and regulatory standards. Meanwhile, more than half (51%) have either received compliance warnings or fear they soon will.

The bottom line? The compliance bar is rising, but most organizations are still playing catch-up.

2. Fragmented Tools are Creating Fractured Processes

Audit prep isn’t just time-consuming, it’s painfully inefficient. Nearly every organization (92%) uses three or more tools to gather audit evidence, and just 39% of that process is automated. This patchwork of platforms forces teams to manually verify configurations, track tasks by hand, and cross-reference data across silos.

The result? Slower audits, inconsistent documentation, and increased risk of error.

3. Manual Work is Wasting Time and Introducing Risk

More than half of security teams (54%) spend five or more hours each week on manual compliance tasks. And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, 62% admit their processes are at least occasionally error-prone, which is a costly problem when regulators are watching closely.

There couldn’t be more, right? Well, brace yourself. Teams are also struggling with documentation, evidence collection, and resource gaps. As one respondent put it, “We’re stuck using spreadsheets to prove we’re secure in a world that’s anything but static.”

4. Security and GRC Teams Still Don’t Speak the Same Language

Audit success depends on tight collaboration between security and GRC,  but that’s far from a reality for most teams. A full 90% of respondents are concerned that poor collaboration could jeopardize audits. The top barriers? Differing priorities, poor communication, and lack of shared understanding.

Without alignment, organizations face duplication of effort, missed requirements, and friction that slows everything down.

5. The Cost of Compliance Failures Is Only Growing

When compliance breaks down, it doesn’t just lead to fines; it also undermines the organization’s reputation. It opens the door to bigger problems, such as increased breach risk and reputational damage. In fact, 36% of organizations cite security breaches and reputational harm as their top compliance-related concerns, this comes right behind financial penalties.

It’s Time to Bring Control to the GRC Chaos

Audit chaos is real and spreadsheets aren’t saving you. Disconnected tools and manual processes slow everything down and put compliance at risk. The data paints a clear picture: audit and compliance workflows need a smarter, more sustainable approach. That’s where the Swimlane Compliance Audit Readiness (CAR) Solution comes in. Powered by Swimlane Turbine, CAR helps GRC teams simplify audits and evidence gathering across 30+ frameworks, so you can stop chasing paperwork and start building real compliance confidence. Are you ready to reduce audit fatigue and streamline your process? See how teams are using Swimlane to bring order to their chaos.