GRC automation · Automate™ with Effivity, included with the engagement
GRC automation software that runs the management system your consultant builds with you.
Automate™ is the part of every Sterling engagement that puts your management system into Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Documents, registers, audits, actions and management review sit in one workspace, configured within the agreed scope and included at no additional cost. We ensure successful certification for our clients.
- One workspace for the standards and frameworks in your scope, alone or as one integrated system, for one site or many countries
- Configured by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope, included with the engagement at no additional cost, and kept running under Sustain™ after the audit
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an accredited body audits and decides
- Evidence kept as work is doneRecords are created in Effivity by the people doing the work, so audit preparation becomes a review rather than a hunt through folders.
- One view across standards and sitesLeadership sees actions and performance for every standard and location in one Effivity workspace.
- No separate software contractYour Effivity subscription is included with the Sterling engagement, at no additional cost, for the users and period in the proposal.
- A system that keeps runningThe same workspace carries surveillance, internal audits and revised editions under Sustain™ and Revise™.
Standards and frameworks in one workspace
Automate the standards you hold, or the ones you are about to implement.
Effivity is configured for the standard in your scope, and further standards join the same workspace, so shared elements such as document control, internal audit, corrective action and management review are run once rather than once per certificate. If nobody has told you which standards your customers expect, Select the Standard™ shows what your sector asks for.
- ISO 9001Quality
- ISO 14001Environment
- ISO 45001Health & safety
- ISO/IEC 27001Information security
- SOC 2Attestation readiness
- PCI DSSCard payments
- GDPRData protection
- HIPAAHealth information
- ISO 13485Medical devices
- ISO 22301Business continuity
- ISO/IEC 27701Privacy information
- ISO 22000Food safety
- All standards & frameworksThe full catalogue, with sector schemes
The engagement, step by step
What Automate™ adds at each stage of the engagement.
Automate™ is not a separate project that starts once the documents are written. It runs through the five stages of Sterling OS™ from the first week, so each deliverable is created in Effivity rather than copied into it later. The indicative timings are for a single-site organisation; multi-site and integrated programmes follow the same order on a longer calendar.
- 01
Scope and workspace set-up
Weeks 1 to 2What happens
We agree the standards, sites, departments and users in scope and look at how records are kept today: spreadsheets, shared drives, paper or another tool. The workspace is structured to mirror your organisation, and together we decide which existing records are worth moving and which are better started afresh.
You receive
- Effivity workspace opened and structured for your scope
- User list and access roles agreed with your project owner
- A migration plan for the documents and registers you keep today
Your side
A project owner, the list of users and sites, and access to the records you hold now.
- 02
Configure and migrate
Weeks 3 to 12What happens
As each process, policy and control is agreed in the weekly working session, it is set up in Effivity with an owner, a date and the evidence it needs. Existing records that made it through the migration plan are loaded, checked with the people responsible for them and linked to the requirement they support.
You receive
- The documented management system held in the Effivity workspace
- Registers for your standard populated: risks, legal and customer requirements, suppliers, competence
- Owners and dates attached to every process and control
Your side
Process owners in the weekly session, and their records moved into Effivity rather than kept alongside it.
- 03
Run the system in software
From week 8What happens
People record inspections, incidents, complaints, supplier evaluations, training and progress on objectives in Effivity as part of their normal work. Each month your consultant reviews the evidence dashboards with you, picks out the processes falling behind and corrects course before a gap turns into a finding.
You receive
- Evidence dashboards by process and by requirement
- Training records kept in the workspace, person by person
- Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard
Your side
Using the workspace for the work itself, and telling us where the set-up does not fit how you operate.
- 04
Internal audit and review in Effivity
Weeks 14 to 18What happens
The internal audit is planned, conducted or facilitated as agreed, and reported in the workspace, and each finding becomes an action with an owner and a date. The management review is held on the records already in Effivity, and its decisions and actions are recorded where the next auditor will look for them.
You receive
- Internal audit programme and report in Effivity
- Corrective actions tracked to closure, with evidence that the fix worked
- Management review record with decisions and actions
Your side
Your auditors and your management using the workspace for the audit and the review.
- 05
Certification audit from a live system
Weeks 16 to 24What happens
The certification body's Stage 1 readiness review and Stage 2 audit look at a system that has been running in software for months. We prepare your team to show records on screen, attend as agreed and track any findings in Effivity until the body makes its decision.
You receive
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 preparation, with evidence retrieved from the workspace
- Findings raised by the body tracked and closed in Effivity
- The Sustain™ calendar for the year ahead, set up in the workspace
Your side
Your people showing their own records, the way they keep them every day.
Who does what
Choose how much of the work Sterling carries.
Design™ and Drive™ are alternative support levels, not steps in sequence. Under both, Sterling configures Effivity and your people keep their records in it; what changes is who drafts the content and populates the registers. The software, the training and the all-inclusive proposal are the same in both.
| Task | Design™ guided | Drive™ fully managed |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace structure, users and access | Sterling agreed with your project owner | Sterling agreed with your project owner |
| Migrating existing documents and records | Together your team selects and tidies, Sterling loads and checks | Sterling from the records you hand over |
| Documents written in the workspace | Together your team writes on Sterling's templates, Sterling reviews in the session | Sterling written with your process owners |
| Registers: risks, requirements, suppliers, competence | Your team coached in the weekly session | Sterling populated from your data |
| Day-to-day records in Effivity | Your team the people doing the work | Your team Sterling checks the evidence each month |
| Evidence dashboard reviews | Together monthly, with your consultant | Sterling reported to your project owner |
| Internal audit recorded in Effivity | Together your trained auditors, Sterling facilitates | Sterling conducted and recorded for you |
| Management review record | Your management Sterling prepares the inputs | Your management Sterling prepares and records it |
| Certification decision | The independent, accredited certification body never Sterling | |
Not sure which support level fits? If someone in your team can give the workspace a few hours a week, Design™ usually works well; if nobody can, or the audit date is close, Drive™ carries the set-up and the population of registers for you. Ten minutes on the discovery call is normally enough to decide.
What you receive
A configured workspace and a system that runs in it. Nothing charged separately.
- Effivity workspace, configuredStructured for your standards, sites and departments, with users and access roles agreed, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
- Migration of existing recordsThe documents and registers worth keeping moved in, checked with their owners and linked to the requirement they support.
- The documented system, in the workspacePolicies, processes, procedures and forms on Sterling's template sets, tailored to your operation and held in Effivity.
- Populated registersRisks, legal and customer requirements, suppliers, competence and equipment, each entry with an owner and a date.
- Evidence dashboardsBy process and by requirement, reviewed monthly with your consultant against the implementation plan.
- Trained peopleAwareness e-learning for everyone through Sterling Academy, practitioner courses for the people who run the system, and training records kept in the workspace.
- Audit and review recordsInternal audit programme and report, corrective actions closed with evidence, and the management review record, all in Effivity.
- Sustain™ in the same workspaceSurveillance dates, internal audits, refreshers and any transition to a revised edition planned in Effivity for the year after certification.
Effivity · included with the engagement
Your system runs in software from the first workshop.
Effivity is the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures it within the agreed scope, so evidence accumulates as people do their work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
ISO & GRC softwareSterling Academy · included with the engagement
Your people learn the standard, not just the forms.
E-learning with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online, with progress by department for the certification audit. Sterling consulting clients get preferential course access and special pricing, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
Contact us about Academy accessHow we price
One all-inclusive proposal. Every component visible. No surprises, ever.
Effivity is not priced as a separate licence in a Sterling proposal: the subscription is included with the engagement, at no additional cost, for the users and access period the proposal confirms. The engagement itself depends on the standards, the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees, and how much of the work Sterling carries, so each proposal is built for one organisation. The principles behind it do not change.
- One all-inclusive proposal for Sterling's work, software and learning. Consulting, Effivity and Sterling Academy access in one figure; the fee does not move when the work takes longer than we planned.
- Certification-body fees identified separately. The body's audit days, travel and surveillance arrangements are shown as their own line, so the full programme cost is comparable across proposals.
- Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not to the calendar: the gap analysis report, the documented system, the internal audit, the certificate.
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions in writing, and nothing to sign to receive the proposal.
To prepare your proposal we need
- The standards or frameworks you want in the workspace
- The activities, sites and departments to be covered
- Approximate headcount, and how many people will keep records
- How records are kept today: spreadsheets, shared drives, paper or another tool
- Your target audit date, if there is one
That is enough for a scoped, all-inclusive proposal from a Sterling consultant in your region. There is no need to prepare a manual first.
Request a scoped proposalA Sterling consultant replies within one working day.
Standards
Standards this service covers
- ISO/IEC 27001ISO/IEC 27001 certification consulting: an ISMS built with your people, evidence prepared, and support through Stage 1, Stage 2 and surveillance audits.
- ISO 9001ISO 9001 certification consulting: a quality management system built with your people, evidence prepared and support until an accredited body certifies you.
- SOC 2SOC 2 Readiness and compliance consulting: controls mapped to the Trust Services Criteria and evidence prepared for the CPA firm's SOC 2 attestation report.
- PCI DSSPCI DSS compliance consulting for merchants and service providers: scope, the twelve requirements and evidence prepared for your annual validation by a QSA.
- ISO/IEC 27701ISO/IEC 27701 certification consulting: privacy management for controllers and processors of PII, built on your ISMS and prepared for an accredited audit.
- ISO 22301ISO 22301 certification consulting to keep delivering through disruption: impact analysis, continuity plans and exercises, prepared for an accredited audit.
- ISO 37301ISO 37301 certification consulting: one compliance management system for your obligations and commitments, with evidence ready for an accredited audit.
- ISO/IEC 42001ISO/IEC 42001 certification consulting for AI governance: risks and impacts assessed, treated and evidenced, then supported through the certification audit.
- HIPAAHIPAA compliance consulting for US covered entities and business associates: a documented programme protecting PHI.
- GDPRGDPR compliance consulting: lawful processing, data subject rights and breach response, with evidence for regulators and your customers' auditors.
Don’t be fooled by certification scams
Sterling against the alternatives.
The market offers four ways to a certificate. Three of them leave you with a system that does not run, a certificate that fails a customer's check, or both. This is what each route actually gives you.
| What you get | Spreadsheets and shared drives | GRC software on its own | Consultant plus a separate tool | Sterling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A system built around your operation | Only if your team has the time and the expertise | No: a tool that stays empty until someone fills it | Depends on how well the two are joined up | Yes, with your process owners, on Sterling's template sets |
| Your people trained | Not included | Training on the tool, not on the standard | Sometimes, at extra cost | Included: awareness, practitioner and internal auditor training |
| Software to run the system | Files and folders, no workflow | Yes, as its own subscription | A second contract to manage | Effivity, included at no additional cost |
| Internal audit and management review before the audit | If you know how | Screens for it, if someone runs them | Usually | Always, with findings closed on evidence |
| Certificate from an accredited body | Your choice | Not in scope: software only | Usually | Always: accreditation checked before you sign |
| Who is accountable if the audit goes badly | You | Nobody: the vendor supplies software | Split between consultant and vendor | Sterling, under the Sterling Promise, until you are certified |
| Fee transparency | No licence, but staff time nobody counts | Per-user licence, consulting extra | Two contracts, two invoices | One all-inclusive proposal; certification-body fees shown separately |
| After the certificate | On your own | The tool stays; the expertise does not | Another contract | Sustain™: surveillance, internal audits, refreshers, transitions |
Sterling's position. Sterling does not certify. We consult, train and prepare you; an independent, accredited body audits and decides. We do not sell certificates without implementation, and we tell you when an offer you have received is one. All ten warning signs of shortcut certification · How to check any ISO certificate
Client experience
On the record: what clients say about working with Sterling.
The head of information security reports that the consultants helped organise evidence across several delivery centres and close control gaps without disrupting client operations, and that the weekly guidance kept the project moving.
The managing partner writes that the team helped standardise engagement planning, review controls, document management and corrective actions without adding administration, and that the resulting quality system gives partners clearer oversight and supports more consistent client delivery.
The managing partner writes that the firm valued the plain explanations and the control templates tailored to its cloud accounting environment, and that management gained better visibility of security responsibilities and evidence.
The ISO manager reports that the company was very pleased with the implementation approach, and that the consultants guided it to a close integration of its existing systems with the additional requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.
Each account is drawn from a signed letter or e-mail on file and reported in our words, with the signatory's role and organisation attached; the original letters are available on request. Ask for references in your sector before you decide.
- 60+countries where Sterling has delivered certification
- 21countries with a Sterling office, eight regions, one coordinated team
- 2003the year the group began implementing ISO management systems; the same method, refined, since
- 8,100+client engagements across the group, from single-site SMEs to multinationals
FAQs
Questions clients ask before they engage us.
The answers for your organisation come from the discovery call. These are the questions people ask most about GRC automation.
What is GRC automation software?
GRC automation software replaces the spreadsheets, shared drives and e-mail chains most organisations use for governance, risk and compliance with one system in which documents, risks, audits, actions and reviews are recorded and tracked. At Sterling that system is Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries, configured by your consultant within the agreed scope of the engagement.
Is Effivity really included at no additional cost?
Yes. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost. The proposal confirms the users and the access period, so you know exactly what is covered before you accept it, and there is no separate software line to compare or negotiate within that scope.
Can we move our existing documents and records into Effivity?
Yes, and the migration is part of the engagement. In the first stage we agree which documents and registers are worth moving; Sterling then loads them, checks them with their owners and links them to the requirement they support. Records that are out of date or duplicated are better retired than migrated, and we will say which is which.
We are already certified. Is Automate™ still relevant?
Yes. A certified system kept in spreadsheets tends to be reassembled before every surveillance audit. Moving it into Effivity under a Sterling engagement, for example alongside Sustain™ support or a transition to a revised edition under Revise™, means the next audit reviews records kept throughout the year. The discovery call confirms how that would be scoped for your organisation.
Does GRC automation replace the consultant?
No. Software records and tracks the work; it does not decide what your scope should be, which risks matter or whether a control actually works. That is why Automate™ is delivered by the same Sterling consultant who guides your system into place: the consultant configures the workspace, reviews the evidence with you each month and prepares your team for the audit.
Can several standards and sites share one workspace?
Yes. Several standards can run in one Effivity workspace, so document control, internal audit, corrective action and management review are run once for all of them. Multi-site programmes keep every location in the same workspace under one engagement team and, where the certification body agrees, can be covered by one multi-site certificate.
Will the certification auditor accept records kept in Effivity?
Auditors look for evidence that the system operates as described, and records kept in software are evidence like any other, usually easier to retrieve. We prepare your team to show records on screen at Stage 1 and Stage 2. The certification body decides how it conducts its audit, and the certification decision remains the body's alone.
What happens to the Effivity workspace after the certificate?
It keeps running. Under Sustain™, surveillance audits, internal audits, management reviews and refresher training are planned and recorded in the same Effivity workspace, and a revised edition or an additional standard is added under Revise™. Access continues on the terms set out in your proposal, which states the users and the access period.
Does Sterling issue the certificate or the attestation report?
No. Sterling provides consulting, Effivity, training and audit readiness. An independent, accredited certification body conducts the certification audit and makes the decision; for SOC 2, the service auditor, a CPA firm, performs the examination and issues the report. Keeping those roles separate is what gives your certificate or report its value.
Keep exploring
More Sterling services
Watch a video on automating compliance evidence and workflows here.
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