HCS expands offering with dedicated compliance practice

HCS, the Irish IT managed services and digital transformation company, has announced the launch of its governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) practice. The practice will protect businesses in Ireland against growing threats such as ransomware, supply chain disruption, and service outages, and support compliance with new and changing industry regulations including NIS2 and DORA.

Key services within the practice include governance, compliance, and data protection maturity assessments, continuous compliance monitoring, and support with artificial intelligence and ISO readiness. It will also offer governance framework development, information security and policy development, and vendor risk and third-party reviews.

The practice is aimed at businesses that operate in regulated or high-trust environments, or need to demonstrate stronger governance to customers, boards, partners, or regulators. These include organisations in healthcare, public sector supply chains, critical service environments, technology, and professional services. It is also suited to mid-sized and scaling organisations that require practical governance and compliance support, but may not have the internal resources to build dedicated teams.

The GRC practice will not only design and implement governance and compliance frameworks for businesses, but also help to embed, sustain, and reinforce them through training, continuity planning, monitoring, and ongoing improvement. This will remove the need for businesses to build internal teams or divert existing resources, saving time and boosting productivity. The new practice is underpinned by HCS’ certifications with ISO 27001 for information security management and ISO 9001 for quality management, providing peace of mind for customers.

In addition, HCS will provide its Virtual CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) offering to businesses. This is a one-to-one service, offered on-site or remotely, that delivers in-depth cybersecurity assessments, conducts regulatory gap analysis, and ensures alignment with best-practice frameworks such as NIS2.

To support its planned growth, HCS has appointed Lesley Whelan as its Head of Risk and Compliance. Lesley brings 20 years of experience in governance, risk, and compliance in the IT industry to her new role. In HCS, she will lead the new GRC practice’s development, expand its customer base, and drive its strategic expansion.

Lesley Whelan, Head of Risk & Compliance, HCS, said: “For many organisations, governance and compliance are no longer viewed as box-ticking exercises; they are now central to winning business, maintaining trust, supporting growth, and demonstrating operational maturity. HCS is responding to that shift by building a practical and scalable service that connects governance and compliance support with resilience, awareness, and real-world security needs. It will help businesses to tackle several critical challenges, such as the ability to reduce risk exposure, improve internal clarity around roles, policies, and accountability, and prepare for regulatory change.”

Pamela Farrell, Managing Director, HCS, said: “HCS is launching this new division amid rising cyber and operational risk, a regulatory landscape that is becoming more complex, and greater board-level focus on governance. Cybersecurity, compliance, and resilience can no longer sit solely within the IT function. They are now business-critical issues that require board-level visibility, clear ownership, and ongoing accountability.

“This shift is driving organisations to look for practical governance support that connects technology, risk, people, and process. The new practice builds on HCS’ existing expertise in governance, assurance, and data security, formalising and scaling those capabilities into a dedicated offering. Our integrated approach will enable us to quickly and easily scale our capabilities, and we look forward to growing both the practice and our client base significantly over the coming years.”

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