Supporting utilities companies with data protection

Simplify your compliance management. Allow us to take the strain of data protection to increase customer trust.

We understand that your organisation operates in a highly regulated environment. Your continued compliance with these regulations is a fundamental part of your licence and your ability to operate in the utilities sector. As such, this is no doubt your main area of compliance focus.

You will likely be aware of the other non-industry-specific regulations that you must also comply with, including the GDPR. However, your time and resources may not stretch to give the vast regulatory work equal attention.

DQM GRC recognises the challenges that you face. We have a variety of solutions available to help you not only manage your data protection compliance but also make data protection a priority and increase customer trust.

How can you manage compliance over a complex network of suppliers?

From email marketing platforms to meter service providers, you potentially have hundreds of suppliers forming part of the services you deliver. The majority of those suppliers are likely to be data processors, meaning they process customer data on your behalf.

It is essential for all organisations to ensure that their suppliers are working to the legal and contractual standard required to help protect them from regulatory, legal, contractual, reputational and commercial risks.

Carrying out periodic audits or due diligence checks on suppliers is an effective way to manage these risks and show that the organisation is taking appropriate steps to ensure compliance through its supply chain.

DQM GRC offers a range of supply chain compliance solutions, from desktop assessments to full on-site audits, covering the following areas:

1. Compliance with contractual obligations including data processor agreements.
2. Compliance with wider GDPR and relevant data protection legislation requirements.
3. Ensuring the supplier/processor has appropriate information security controls in place.
4. A consideration of other requirements, for example does the supplier have policies and controls in place in areas such as bribery and corruption prevention, competition law compliance and health and safety management.

Having a robust way to monitor risks in your supply chain and take appropriate remedial action will help protect your organisation from compliance and regulatory risks. It is about protecting one of your most important assets, your customers’ data, and ensuring your supply chain is operating in the best way possible for you.

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We have complex work that needs completing but our team doesn’t have the time or expertise.

From email marketing platforms to meter service providers, you potentially have hundreds of suppliers forming part of the services you deliver. The majority of those suppliers are likely to be data processors, meaning they process customer data on your behalf.

There is only so much your compliance team can achieve in such a highly regulated environment and with many utilities-specific obligations to attend to. We often support organisations that have an excessive data protection workload through an interim consultant. Our highly experienced data protection professionals can step into a new organisation and manage teams, projects or complete tasks, enabling your team to focus on everything else.

An interim consultant remains on our payroll, so won’t add to your headcount, and is a quick way to get experienced support with whatever you need. What’s more, you can engage one of our consultants part-time or full-time, and for as long or as little as necessary.

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We are confident in our data compliance, but how can we prove it to external stakeholders?

From email marketing platforms to meter service providers, you potentially have hundreds of suppliers forming part of the services you deliver. The majority of those suppliers are likely to be data processors, meaning they process customer data on your behalf.

Utilities companies are under constant scrutiny for how they treat their customers. It is essential that stakeholders and customers alike have confidence in your data protection practices. A data breach could mean unwanted media attention, loss of trust, and financial losses that take years to make up – something external parties won’t want to risk being associated with.

One way to demonstrate that your GDPR compliance programme is up to scratch is a GDPR Gap Analysis. This service offers a robust assessment of your compliance levels, with remediation actions if necessary. You will receive an easy-to-understand visual report of your compliance in each area (such as data subject rights), which you can share with stakeholders.

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