What Should Be Considered When Implementing Software Policies and Guidelines?
When implementing software policies and guidelines, organizations must carefully balance compliance obligations against usability and security:
- Policies establish management’s intent; and
- Guidelines are recommended practices, but not mandatory.
Human nature is always the mortal enemy of unclear documentation, as people will not take the time to read it. An ignorant or ill-informed workforce entirely defeats the premise of having the documentation in the first place.
In the context of good cybersecurity and data privacy documentation, policies, standards, procedures and guidelines are key components that are intended to be hierarchical and build on each other to build a strong governance structure that utilizes an integrated approach to managing requirements.