Creating and Managing Compliance Initiatives

You can create compliance initiatives based on applicable standards and frameworks. Compliance initiatives are plans consisting of controls to be addressed by the company in order to achieve compliance with the associated standard or framework.

To create a compliance initiative

When you first get started with Compliance Automation, you'll be guided through creating a compliance initiative. Subsequent compliance initiatives can be created from the Initiatives screen using the following procedure.

  1. On the Compliance Automation menu, select Initiatives.
    The Initiatives screen appears.

  2. Click the Create Initiative button.

    The Add Initiative Details screen appears.

  3. Complete the fields. For more information, see Add Details Screen Reference . 
  4. Click the Next button.
    The Select Standard or Framework screen appears.

  5. Select your standards or frameworks from the list provided.
    Tip:

    You can click the Preview Standard and Framework button to view all of the controls in a standard or framework when only one framework is selected.

    You can also add a standard or framework by clicking the Add Standard or Framework button. This allows you to access the Standards and Frameworks screen where you can perform the actions outlined in the table below. You'll have to navigate back to the Initiatives screen if you choose this action.



    Tab

    Description

    My Standards and Frameworks

    Select or search for a standard or framework to associate with this initiative. The standards and frameworks available in this section were identified by your company profile or by adding them to your organizations standards and frameworks. Initiatives can only be associated with a single law or framework.

    Note:

    You can preview the standard or framework by clicking the Preview Standard and Framework button.

    Available Standards and Frameworks

    Select or search for a standard or framework to associate with this initiative. These standards and frameworks are part of your company profile selections or Standard and Frameworks Library. Initiatives can only be associated with a single law or framework.

    Note:

    You can preview the standard or framework by clicking the Preview Standard and Framework button.

    Create Custom Standard or Framework

    Click the Create Custom Standard or Framework button to open the standard and framework pane. You can then download the template and import a custom standard and framework.
  6. Click the Next button.
    The Select Inventories screen appears.

  7. Select up to 20 inventories when creating a compliance initiative to help determine the scope of the initiative.
    Note:

    Click the name of the inventory record in the table to open an information pane and view more details about the record. You can also utilize the search bar and filter inventories as needed to locate specific records.

    You can click the Add [Inventory Type] button to open the Add Inventory modal and create a new inventory record. Inventories created within Compliance Automation are automatically added to the list of inventories throughout the OneTrust platform and are also reflected in the Inventories tab of the compliance initiative. This integration ensures consistency across the platform and helps maintain accurate, initiative-specific context for all relevant inventories.

  8. Click the Next button.
    The Select Controls screen appears.

  9. Select an option for how you would like to manage the control implementations for the initiative. These are the three options available:

    • Choose the Use existing controls option to import all controls from the selected standards and frameworks. This helps to streamline the initiative creation by focusing on relevant controls already mapped to inventories and prevents you from overwriting existing work.

    • Choose the Automate control selection with our Scoping Survey option to take the OneTrust scoping survey to answer questions about the standards or frameworks you selected and identify relevant controls based on your responses. The scoping survey helps to exclude controls that may not apply to your organization. Each out-of-the-box framework developed by OneTrust will have its own framework scoping survey to identify controls based on business processes and circumstances.

      Note:

      This option only appears if you select a standard or framework that includes a scoping survey. If you choose this option, complete the creation of your initiative using the Completing the Compliance Initiative Scoping Survey.

    • Choose the Manually select controls option to create the initiative without preselecting controls. Controls can be added after the initiative is created.

  10. Click the Create Initiative button.
    Note:

    If you have selected a standard or framework that has no evidence tasks, the Missing Evidence Tasks modal will appear. This modal will prompt you to create evidence tasks on a standard or framework in bulk. Click the Confirm button to move forward with creating the initiative. 



  11. On the Initiative Creation modal, click the OK button. Creating your initiative may take some time, and you will receive an email and notification when this process is complete.

Add Details Screen Reference 



Section

Field

Description

Enter Initiative Details

Initiative Name

Enter a name for the initiative that will help users identify the initiative.

Initiative Owners

Select the owner(s) responsible for the initiative.

Select Initiative Organization

Initiative Organization

Select the designated organization accountable for managing the compliance initiative.

Set an Observation Period

Start Date

Select the start date in which the initiative will be observed.

Tip:

The dates selected will filter the evidence task intervals visible within the initiative to help you focus on collecting evidence for a particular period.

End Date

Select the end date in which the initiative will no longer be observed.

Tip:

The dates selected will filter the evidence task intervals visible within the initiative to help you focus on collecting evidence for a particular period.

To delete a compliance initiative

  1. On the Compliance Automation menu, select Initiatives.

    The Initiatives screen appears.

  2. Hover over the initiative you would like to delete and click the Context Menu icon.
    Tip:

    You can select and delete initiatives in bulk by checking the box for each initiative you would like to delete on the Initiatives list screen and then clicking the Trash icon.



  3. On the Context menu, select Delete.
    The Delete Initiative modal appears.

  4. Click the Confirm button.

To update the compliance initiative status

  1. On the Compliance Automation menu, select Initiatives.

    The Initiatives screen appears.

  2. Hover over the initiative you want to update the status for and click the Context Menu icon.
  3. On the Context menu, select Update Initiative Status.
    The Update Initiative Status modal appears.




  4. Click the Mark as Closed or Mark as Active button to update the initiative status will be updated. 

To edit initiative details

  1. On the Compliance Automation menu, select Initiatives.

    The Initiatives screen appears.

  2. Open the initiative you would like to edit.
    The Initiative Details screen appears.

  3. Click the Context menu icon and select Edit Initiative Details.
    The Edit Initiative Details modal appears.

    Field
    Description
    Initiative Name

    Enter a name for the initiative that will help users identify the initiative.

    Initiative Owners

    Select the owner(s) responsible for the initiative.

    Start Date (of Observation Period)

    Select the start date in which the initiative will be observed.

    End Date (of Observation Period)

    Select the end date in which the initiative will no longer be observed.

  4. Edit the details of the compliance initiative as needed.
  5. Click the Save button.

To export an initiative

You can export an initiative to download the following details:

  • Collected evidence documents (files, notes, links)

  • A complete list of evidence tasks

  • A complete list of control implementations

Note:

The steps below cover exporting details for a specific initiative. If you would like to export a list of initiatives created within your organization, click the Export button on the Initiatives list screen.

  1. On the Compliance Automation menu, select Initiatives.

    The Initiatives screen appears.

  2. Open the initiative you would like to export.
    The Initiative Details screen appears.

  3. Click the Context menu icon and select Export initiative.
    The Preparing download modal appears.

  4. Click the Close button to exit the download modal. A notification icon will appear when the export is ready to download.
  5. Click the Notifications icon.

    The Notifications popover appears.

  6. Click the export link in the popover to download the exported report.