Article highlights
- Difference between a policy management platform and software
- Why you need a platform like PowerDMS, not another piece of software
Running an organization on several different pieces of software is a challenge at the best of times. At the worst of times, it's downright impossible. Different software packages upgrade at different times, which breaks any kind of automation or workflow you might have created. Or different features no longer work with other software packages. And some software may not update as quickly as the industry demands, putting you behind schedule in your capabilities.
This is where having a suite of products, or even an entire platform, would make everything work so much better.
In the world of policy management and compliance, the last thing you need is one more piece of software. Most policy management solutions describe themselves as "software," but is that what you really need? It's just one more variable in a structure filled with cobbled-together processes and workflows that would make Dr. Seuss look on with envy.
If you're trying to combine policy management, training, and accreditation, then a platform is what you need. Policy management platforms are more than just another piece of software. A platform is an overarching mechanism that lets you marry up policies, training, and accreditation automatically, without adding in new pieces of software to increase functionality.
In this article, we'll explain the difference between policy management software and a policy management platform, and why having a platform is preferable to having just one more piece of software.
Difference between a policy management platform and software
Basically, policy management software lets you store and manage your corporate policies and information in a central repository, similar to a document management solution.
It might even have some additional features like version control, to ensure that everyone has access only to the latest version of each policy. It might even have signature tracking to confirm whether everyone has read the new updates. But all that varies from software package to software package.
Policy management platforms, on the other hand, connect your policies to your other compliance programs, like your training and accreditation, all within a single interface. Everything is contained within the same package, so there's no copying-and-pasting between documents or trying to sync up data between two applications.
For example, when an accreditation standard is updated, a platform like PowerDMS automatically notifies you of every policy or proof of compliance impacted by that updated standard, so your documentation is always compliant and assessment-ready. With two separate software packages, you'll likely have to make all the updates yourself.
A policy management platform also takes the other features of the software, like signature tracking and approvals, and connects those to your accreditation requirements, so you can easily demonstrate compliance with those requirements. Learn all about the most important policy management features here.
This way, you can ask for signatures from all your employees confirming that they've read the new updates. Those signatures are then collected and tied into the accreditation standard that says a certain percentage of all of the employees have read the new standard. No more tracking signatures with forms, spreadsheets, and phone calls.
PowerDMS is a policy management platform that seamlessly integrates policies, training, and accreditation content with one another. It creates a living connection to achieve everyday compliance, and it automates many of the functions you used to spend hours creating by hand.
Why you need a platform like PowerDMS, not another piece of software
This living connection is critical to your policy management efforts. Most documents, especially the larger and more important ones, are already "living," because they grow, change, and evolve as time goes on.
New laws and regulations, new ways of thinking, and changes in the industry or society at large affect the way our policies are written and thought of. Rather than deleting old policies and starting from scratch each time there's a change, it's easier to think of these policies as living entities and to help them grow.
In real life, the actions of, and changes within, one person can affect other people as well as their surroundings and lifestyles.
This is how that living connection works. When an accreditation standard changes, the policy changes. When a policy changes, the training requirements change. As training improves, accreditation standards change as well.
All instances of that single, published version are automatically updated across the platform, wherever it’s attached: to training courses, accreditation standards, and even as public-facing documents.
With a policy management platform, you can add new modules and add-ons that your organization needs like mapping policies to accreditation standards, attaching policies to training courses, or instantly sharing select policies within the community or your organization.
You can also control a single, living version of each of your policies with useful data like signature tracking, test results, version history, and then tie all of that back to your accreditation requirements. Rather than trying to track and compile all the test results of the training for a new policy, you can share the policy with everyone and give them the training requirements. Your staff can take the training online, take the necessary assessments, and then those scores can be compiled and slotted directly into the appropriate accreditation field.
Finally, with PowerDMS' policy management platform, you can subscribe to a standards manual from one of the 60+ accrediting bodies we partner with, or upload and edit policy samples and templates from other organizations like yours. All uploading, updating, and notifying is done automatically, with the right information being shared out only to the people who need to receive it.
A policy management platform solution is the ideal setup for any organization that doesn't want to deal with a myriad of different software packages trying to capture a lot of manual processes. It significantly cuts down on the amount of time you need to spend tracking signatures, sharing information, and compiling test results. It lets you focus on the important work of policy management and accreditation compliance, relieving you of the mundane, low-value administrivia.
If you're ready to learn more, PowerDMS can help. You can contact us for a sales consultation or schedule a free demo.
