Synchronized Visions: How Deloitte and Wheelhouse Advisors Illuminate the Future of IRM
As I survey the current literature and thought leadership on integrated risk management (IRM), it becomes increasingly clear that this discipline is entering a pivotal era. Both Wheelhouse Advisors and Deloitte have recently offered robust frameworks illuminating different facets of IRM. To clarify, neither I nor Wheelhouse Advisors have any affiliation with Deloitte, and this is not an endorsement of their services. However, this is an endeavor to highlight the critical insights — our IRM Navigator™ Report Series and Deloitte's IRM Report Series—to offer a composite view of the prevailing trends and imperatives in IRM.
Wheelhouse Advisors’ Four Pillars and the IRM Navigator™ Series
At the core of Wheelhouse Advisors' IRM Navigator™ Series is our proprietary four-pillar model of risk objectives:
Source: Wheelhouse Advisors LLC
Performance: Far from being a tool of mere prevention or mitigation, IRM should leverage risk to drive organizational performance.
Resilience: Resilience isn't just a corporate buzzword but a genuine organizational goal that becomes increasingly important in a turbulent global landscape.
Assurance: Risk isn't to be eliminated but managed to a level that aligns with an organization’s risk appetite, thereby providing assurance to stakeholders.
Compliance: Beyond regulatory conformance, compliance becomes a way to build institutional trust and integrity.
Our model distinguishes four primary IRM market segments:
Operational Risk Management (ORM) focuses on 'Performance,’ covering EH&S management, sustainability, and supply chain risk management.
Information Technology Risk Management (ITRM) caters to 'Resilience,’ ensuring the integrity of an organization's IT infrastructure.
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) deals with 'Assurance,’ offering a holistic perspective on organizational risks.
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) underscores 'Compliance,’ addressing regulations and internal controls.
Diving into the IRM Navigator™ Reports
Wheelhouse Advisors has engineered two groundbreaking reports that are essential reading for anyone interested in the technical intricacies of IRM:
IRM Navigator™ Market Map Report: This report provides an exhaustive overview of the burgeoning IRM technology market in 2023 and the top 46 vendors. According to analysis in the report, the IRM technology market is poised for unprecedented growth, from $41 billion in 2023 to an estimated $93 billion by 2030.
IRM Navigator™ Annual Viewpoint Report: This report will provide a comprehensive overview of the 2024 Integrated Risk Management (IRM) market, highlighting the IRM40, a selection of 40 exemplary vendors across four IRM segments. It identifies IRM Market Leaders, recognizing vendors with strong positions and comprehensive solutions across multiple segments. It also explores the following capabilities that serve as the connective tissue integrating ORM, ITRM, ERM, and GRC.
Risk Identification & Assessment: A comprehensive risk discovery, cataloging, and evaluation toolkit.
Risk Monitoring & Reporting: Features for real-time monitoring and intricate reporting mechanisms.
Incident Management: A streamlined process covering the full spectrum of incident identification to reporting.
Risk Mitigation & Control Remediation: A set of tools for developing and deploying risk mitigation strategies.
Risk Quantification & Analytics: Techniques and tools for risk scoring, prioritization, and more.
Integration & Automation: Ensuring seamless system integration, task automation, and workflow management.
Comparative Insights: Deloitte’s IRM Series
Deloitte's planned eight-part series aligns well with our holistic view of IRM, each focusing on an area that complements our four-pillar model and our market segment classifications. The first four reports are published, and the highlights for each are here:
One Small Step: Improving Your Risk Governance Practices: Reflecting our emphasis on Assurance and Compliance, this report highlights the urgency of robust risk governance.
The Connecting Force: Risk Intelligence Platforms Enabling Decisions: This echoes our focus on Performance and Resilience, positing that risk intelligence is not merely a good-to-have but a cornerstone for decision-making.
Resilience for Growth: Underscoring the Performance and Resilience pillars, this report emphasizes the importance of leveraging risk dynamics to not only preserve but also augment business value.
Preparing for a Sustainable Future: Aligned with our broader market segment discussions, this report infuses ESG concerns into the scope of IRM, aligning especially with Performance in the ORM segment.
Looking Ahead: Emerging Narratives
The field of IRM is evolving at an accelerated pace, increasingly defined by its technological sophistication and breadth of application across ORM, ITRM, ERM, and GRC. The IRM Navigator™ Series by Wheelhouse Advisors and the IRM series by Deloitte, though developed independently, converge to offer a nuanced, multidimensional view of this discipline. While each has its own focus and methodology, the resonance between the two can offer organizations valuable insights as they navigate the increasingly complex and interconnected realm of risk management. This comparative exploration serves not as an endorsement but as an enriched discourse that may guide businesses in their ongoing IRM journeys.
Disclaimer: The perspectives offered in this article are entirely my own and should not be considered as an endorsement of Deloitte's services or products.
