RiskWatch
Policy authoring · attestation · cross-framework

Policy work that doesn’t take all quarter.

Most policy programs spend 80% of their time on the rituals — quarterly review cycles, attestation chases, version-control archaeology — and 20% actually shaping the policies. RiskWatch flips that: authoring, approval, distribution, and attestation share one library so revisions are minutes, not weeks.

  • Policy authoring with cross-framework mapping (ISO/SOC 2/HIPAA/PCI/NIST)
  • Approval workflow + version control + redline diff
  • Attestation tracking with reminder cadence + digital signatures
  • For legal counsel: privilege-protected approval chain + retention schedule
No credit card · Templates ship day 1 · Live in 60 seconds
app.riskwatch.com / policy
Live · 142 policies
Attestation rate · Q4
0%
0 vs Q3
Acknowledged3,247
Pending208
Quizzes passed2,891
Exemptions14
Drafted
0 open
In review
0 active
Approved
0 Q4
Published
0 live
Policies needing review · by days remaining
Acceptable Use Policy v3.2
0d
Data Retention Standard v2.0
0d
Remote Work Policy v1.4
0d
Vendor Onboarding SOP v2.1
0d
Code of Conduct v4.0
0d
Trusted by GRC, legal, and HR teams across regulated industries
Catholic Health
Stryker
Avery Dennison
Trane
Aon
First Citizens Bank
Oracle
NTT DATA
Catholic Health
Stryker
Avery Dennison
Trane
Aon
First Citizens Bank
Oracle
NTT DATA
Catholic Health
Stryker
Avery Dennison
Trane
Aon
First Citizens Bank
Oracle
NTT DATA
What it is

What is policy management software?

The auditor asks for signed acknowledgments — and you have them, with timestamps, by department, in under a minute. Author in a WYSIWYG editor, route through multi-level approvals, distribute with attestation quizzes, and re-review on the cadence each policy needs. Aligned to ISO 27001 Annex A.5 and NIST 800-53 PM policy-management requirements. Also called a policy management system, policy automation software, or policy and procedure software.

Why teams move to RiskWatch

Policies in SharePoint folders aren't evidence. Auditors want signatures and timestamps.

GRC teams we talk to manage 50–500 active policies across multiple frameworks, departments, and audiences. Most are still chasing acknowledgments through email and spreadsheets. Here's what that costs.

Pain #1

Policies live in SharePoint. Nobody reads them.

Acceptable Use Policy v3.2 sits next to v3.1 sits next to a draft from 2022. Version drift becomes audit drift. Centralized repository with single source of truth and enforced version control.

Pain #2

Approvals get stuck in inboxes for weeks.

Legal forwards to Security forwards to the GC. Three weeks later, who has it? Sequential approval routing with reminders and an SLA on every gate.

Pain #3

"I never saw that policy" — and they're right.

Acknowledgment by reply-all email isn't evidence. Auditors want signatures, timestamps, and quiz results. Read · quiz · sign — all timestamped, all reportable, all per policy version.

60%
Reduction in manual policy work
drafting · routing · attestation
70%
Increase in policy understanding
measured via comprehension quizzes
35%
Drop in non-compliance risk
enforced version control + attestation
The platform

Every module a modern policy team needs — in one platform.

Sixteen flagship modules sharing recipients, audit trail, and framework mappings. Built around the centralized repository so every policy has a single source of truth.

Dashboard

Policy program at a glance

Attestation rates, policies in review, overdue acknowledgments, quiz pass rates — all on one screen.

WYSIWYG Editor

Author without leaving the platform

Rich-text editor with template library. Insert clauses, comments, redlines. No Word round-trips.

Template Library

50+ pre-built policy templates

Information security, code of conduct, AUP, BCP, HR — every template carries clause-level mappings.

Version Control

Every revision, automatic

Auto-increment version numbers. Diff any two versions side-by-side. Roll back without ceremony.

Approval Workflows

Single or multi-level routing

Configure Legal → Security → Board flows. Each gate captures rationale, timestamps, and signatures.

Sequential Collaboration

Drafts route themselves

Notify reviewer 1, capture feedback, notify reviewer 2 — no manual handoffs, no missed steps.

Publish & Distribute

One click, every recipient

Push to org, department, role, or custom audience. Email + in-app notification with read receipts.

Acknowledgment Tracking

"Read it" backed by data

Every recipient prompted to read and acknowledge. Reminders. Escalation. Auditor-ready proof.

Comprehension Quizzes

Verify they actually read it

Add a 5-question quiz to any policy. Pass threshold configurable. Failed attempts trigger retraining.

Digital Signatures

Timestamped, audit-grade

Cryptographic signature with timestamp captured per attestation. Admissible as evidence under most frameworks.

Exemption Management

Approved deviations, tracked

Recipients request exemptions with rationale. Approver sees the audit trail. No silent non-compliance.

Centralized Repository

One source of truth

Every published policy in one place. Role-based view permissions. No more 'where's the latest version?'

Framework Mapping

Policies linked to controls

Map each policy to ISO 27001 / SOC 2 / HIPAA / PCI clauses. Auditor sees coverage at a glance.

Audit-Ready Reports

Attestation reports auditors will read

Per-policy, per-recipient, per-version. Filter by department, framework, or date. PDF + Excel export.

Bulk Tools

Onboard 1,000 employees in an Excel paste

Bulk import recipients, departments, and audience mappings. Customize fields without IT.

Recurring Re-attestation

Annual reviews on autopilot

Set per-policy review cadence. Platform notifies owners + recipients automatically when due.

The policy lifecycle

Draft · Review · Approve · Publish · Attest.

Five stages, one engine. Each stage captures who did what, when, and why — building an immutable audit trail that follows the policy version through its life. Every transition triggers reminders, escalations, and downstream attestations automatically.

  • DraftingWYSIWYG editor + template library + version-controlled saves
  • CollaborationSequential routing, redlines, version-aware comments
  • ApprovalSingle or multi-level workflows with named approvers
  • PublishingDistribute to org / department / role with read receipts
See the lifecycle in action
Policy Lifecycle
Stage 1
Draft
WYSIWYG editor · template library
Stage 2
Review
Sequential collaboration · redlines
Stage 3
Approve
Single or multi-level workflow
Stage 4
Attest
Read · quiz · sign · timestamped
Multi-level approval routing
Authored drafts
POL-301
Acceptable Use Policy v3.2
POL-218
Data Retention Standard v2.0
POL-414
Remote Work Policy v1.4
Approval gates
LEGAL
Legal review
SEC
Security · CISO sign-off
BOARD
Board approval
Sequential routing →Every approval timestamped + audit-trailed
Multi-level approval

Sequential routing. Zero email threads.

Configure Legal → Security → CISO → Board flows. The platform notifies each approver in turn, captures their decision and rationale, and routes the policy to the next gate automatically. If anyone rejects, the policy returns to the author with the reviewer's comments. Every approval timestamped, every rejection audit-trailed.

  • Author onceWYSIWYG editor with template library and clause inserts
  • Route automaticallySequential reviewer chain — Legal → Security → Board
  • Attest every timeRead · quiz · sign — timestamped per policy version
  • Re-attest annuallyRecurring cadences without manual reminders
Attestation reporting

Audit-grade evidence, on demand.

Read receipts. Quiz results. Digital signatures. Exemption rationales. Every attestation captured per recipient, per policy, per version — and exportable in five filtered views. ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI auditors get the report they need without a single round of manual data pulling.

  • Per-policy attestation% acknowledged, % passed quiz, % signed, by version
  • Per-recipient viewEvery policy assigned to one person, one view
  • Per-framework rollupISO 27001 / SOC 2 / HIPAA / PCI policy coverage
  • Exemption registerApproved deviations with rationale and review dates
  • Quiz analyticsQuestion-level pass rates · spot weak comprehension
Q4 attestation report · per-policy
Acceptable Use Policy v3.2
Read
98%
Quiz
91%
Sign
96%
Code of Conduct v4.0
Read
100%
Quiz
87%
Sign
99%
Data Retention Standard v2.0
Read
84%
Quiz
72%
Sign
80%
Remote Work Policy v1.4
Read
92%
Quiz
88%
Sign
90%
Vendor Onboarding SOP v2.1
Read
76%
Quiz
64%
Sign
71%
How it works

From first draft to audit-ready in five stages.

Most teams publish their first policy within their first week. Stage 4 runs continuously. Stage 5 is on-demand the moment your auditor asks.

1
Stage 01·Day 1

Pick a template

Choose from 50+ pre-built templates (AUP, BCP, code of conduct, infosec) or start from a clean WYSIWYG canvas.

2
Stage 02·Day 2–5

Draft and route

Sequential reviewer chain with redlines, comments, version control. Every change auto-saved with a version number.

3
Stage 03·Week 1

Approve and publish

Multi-level approval gates capture timestamps and signatures. Publish to the org with one click and read receipts.

4
Stage 04·Continuous

Track attestation

Recipients read, take the quiz, sign. Reminders auto-fire. Exemptions captured with rationale and approval.

Stage 05·On-demand

Report and audit

Per-policy attestation, per-recipient view, per-framework rollup — board-ready in two clicks.

Customer stories

The policy review cycle that stopped sitting in inboxes.

Real policy programs. Real before-and-after attestation rates. Real auditor sign-offs.

We cut the policy review cycle from six weeks to twelve days. Legal stopped being the bottleneck because everyone could see exactly where each policy was sitting.
AC
Anita C.
General Counsel · Healthcare insurer · 4,200 employees
Review cycle
12 days
↓ from 6 weeks
Attestation rate
94%
↑ from 71%
Time-to-deploy
3 weeks
first audit-ready cycle

We cut the policy review cycle from six weeks to twelve days. Legal stopped being the bottleneck because everyone could see exactly where each policy was sitting.

AC
Anita C.
General Counsel · Healthcare insurer · 4,200 employees

Quizzes changed everything. We used to assume employees read the policies. Now we have data that says 87% pass on first attempt — and we know which questions trip people up.

JR
Jordan R.
Director of Compliance · SaaS · 1,800 employees

Auditor walked in expecting a SharePoint mess. Walked out with a per-policy attestation report sorted by ISO 27001 clause. We finished SOC 2 readiness three weeks early.

ME
Maria E.
Head of GRC · FinTech · 950 employees
Frameworks supported

If your auditor asks for the policy, we map to the clause.

ISO 27001 Annex A.5, SOC 2 trust services criteria, HIPAA Security Rule, PCI DSS Requirement 12, NIST 800-53 PM family — every policy carries clause-level mappings.

ISO 27001
ISMS policies (A.5)
ISO 27002
Information security controls
SOC 2
Trust services policies
HIPAA
Privacy & security policies
PCI DSS
12 policy requirements
NIST 800-53
PM family policies
NIST CSF
Govern function
GDPR
Data-protection policies
SOX
Internal-controls policies
FFIEC IT
Banking IT policies
OSHA
Workplace safety policies
ISO 22301
BCM policies
ISO 9001
Quality-mgmt SOPs
FERPA
Education privacy policies
+20 more
Custom on request
Free resources

Take RiskWatch home before you sign anything.

Three downloads. Use them to evaluate, share with your team, or build the business case for replacing SharePoint policies.

Free Pack · 12 templates
Policy Pack
Information Security Policy Set
RISKWATCH 2026
Word + PDF · 12 policies

Information Security Policy Pack

Twelve ready-to-tailor policies — AUP, access control, BCP, incident response, password, vendor, data retention, and more. ISO 27001 + SOC 2 + HIPAA mapped.

  • 12 ISO/SOC2/HIPAA-mapped policies
  • Editable Word + branded PDFs
  • Annex A.5 cross-reference table
Get the policy pack
Most popular
Attestation Toolkit · 2026
Attestation Toolkit
Quiz + Sign workflows by framework
AUP
COC
DRP
RWP
VOS
PDF + Excel · 60 quiz questions

Policy Attestation Toolkit

Sixty pre-built quiz questions across 12 standard policies, plus an attestation-rate scorecard, exemption-request template, and digital-signature workflow guide.

  • 60 quiz questions, 12 policies
  • Attestation scorecard
  • Exemption-request template
Download toolkit
Buyer's Guide
Buyer's Guide
Policy Management Platform
2026 Vendor Comparison
Vendor matrix
Workflow comparison
Implementation timelines
20-page PDF

Policy Management Buyer's Guide

Vendor scorecard, workflow comparison, attestation-feature matrix, pricing benchmarks, and implementation timelines by org size.

  • Feature matrix · 5 vendors
  • Editable scorecard template
  • Pricing benchmarks
Get the guide
FAQ

Common questions, answered up front.

About policy management software, systems, automation tools, and document management for compliance — and how RiskWatch covers all of them.

What is policy management software?
Policy management software is a platform that helps organizations author, approve, distribute, attest to, and re-review the policies and procedures that govern day-to-day operations. It centralizes the policy lifecycle in one system — replacing SharePoint folders and email-based approval chains. RiskWatch's policy management software ships with a WYSIWYG editor, template library, multi-level approval workflows, attestation tracking with quizzes, digital signatures, and a per-framework reporting view that maps each policy to ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI controls.
What's the difference between document management and policy management?
Document management stores files and tracks versions. Policy management does that plus the policy-specific workflows: multi-level approval routing, recipient distribution with read receipts, attestation tracking with comprehension quizzes, digital signatures, exemption requests, and recurring re-attestation cadences. Document management treats every file the same; policy management treats each policy as a living artifact with a defined audience, an approval chain, and a re-review schedule.
How does the approval workflow work?
Each policy can be configured with a single approver or a multi-level chain (e.g. Legal → Security → CISO → Board). Approvers are notified sequentially — when reviewer 1 approves, reviewer 2 gets the policy automatically. Each approval captures a timestamp, the approver's identity, and an optional rationale. If a reviewer rejects, the policy routes back to the author with the reviewer's comments. The full chain becomes part of the immutable audit trail attached to the published version.
How do attestation tracking and quizzes work?
When a policy publishes, recipients (org-wide, by department, by role, or a custom audience) receive an email and in-app notification asking them to read and acknowledge. They open the policy in the platform, optionally take a configurable comprehension quiz (default 5 questions, 80% pass threshold), and sign with a timestamped digital signature. The platform tracks every step — read, quiz score, signature time — per policy version, and surfaces overdue or failed attestations on the dashboard. Auditors get a one-click per-policy report showing 100% of who acknowledged what and when.
What standards does it map to?
RiskWatch maps each policy to clauses across ISO 27001 Annex A, ISO 27002, SOC 2 trust services criteria, HIPAA Security Rule, PCI DSS, NIST 800-53 PM family, NIST CSF, GDPR, SOX, FFIEC IT, OSHA, ISO 22301, and ISO 9001. The mapping is bi-directional: from a framework view, you see which policies cover which clauses; from a policy view, you see every framework that policy satisfies. This is the same cross-mapping engine used in Compliance Management.
Does the platform support digital signatures that are admissible in audit?
Yes. Each attestation captures a cryptographic signature including the recipient's identity, the policy version hash, and a server-side timestamp. The signature record cannot be altered after capture and is exported as part of the audit trail. This meets the documentary-evidence standard most auditors apply for ISO 27001 A.5, SOC 2 CC2, HIPAA §164.316, and PCI DSS Req. 12.
How long does implementation take?
Most teams publish their first policy in week one. Pre-built templates, the bulk-import for recipients, and configurable approval workflows remove the typical 2–3 month setup. Enterprise multi-org deployments with custom framework mappings, SSO, and HRIS sync (Workday, SAP, BambooHR) typically complete in 60 days with white-glove implementation.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The 30-day free trial requires no credit card and includes full access — the WYSIWYG editor, every template, approval workflows, attestation tracking, quizzes, and digital signatures. You can run a real policy program against your own org and decide before purchasing.
Ready to retire SharePoint policies?

Publish your first policy this week.

Start a 30-day free trial — every template, the WYSIWYG editor, multi-level approvals, attestation tracking, quizzes, and digital signatures. No credit card required.

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