By Juan Ignacio Abal 

“Much to learn, you still have” – Master Yoda 

FSP is a tool-agnostic company and encourages all consultants to both research and stay on top of the latest developments to ensure they provide clients with a customised approach that best suits their needs. With FSP’s outlook (and Yoda’s comment in my mind), I diligently set about researching the leading Cyber Security training courses on how to operate the best tools for Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC). 

Immediately OneTrust stood out. The increasing interest that the tool has generated in both clients and prospects has been reflected in their enquiries about the GRC platform´s main features and functionalities. So, I visited their site to check out their available courses.  

The main bonus of OneTrust´s Learning Platform is not only the fact that all their courses are offered free of charge, but they also have an impressive number of courses and webinars available, not only related to the tool itself but also connected to the latest trending topics out there (including AI). From a topic perspective, the platform ranges from GRC and Security Assurance to Ethics & Compliance, with stops at Privacy, Data Governance, ESG and Sustainability. It addresses at least 24 different frameworks and regulations and ensures that regardless the jurisdiction and/or module through which you process your data (Note: OneTrust has a module-based approach to the market), you acquire the right knowledge to perform your duties in a secure and compliant way through their course offering.  

My Experience 

The platform has a simplistic design with a focus on a chapter-based approach to the content, helping those who cannot learn in one sitting to easily pick up content where they left off.  

For several courses, there are language versions available, including English, French or Portuguese. These choices make learning easier and more comfortable for some.  

In our busy day jobs, having notification triggers and reminders sent to you by email is very helpful. For example, you can receive access credentials, outlook reminders and in-flight support. 

There are two types of courses to choose from; 

• Self-paced 
• Instructor-led 

Both the above choices were equally fulfilling for me, and I signed up for each. 

Self-paced courses are well designed and intended not only to teach and eventually certify your knowledge on the tool, but also to validate the foundations of several related laws, regulations and standards. To advance through its content, you need to complete a chapter then complete the validating questionnaire before you can move onto the next chapter. Hands-on exercises help you get a better understanding of the main features of each one of the reviewed modules.   

Instructor-led courses are provided by OneTrust appointed specialists who deliver the full content of the courses in under 8 hours, divided into two 4-hour long sessions. While it may seem quite extensive, they work hard to make the sessions dynamic and highly enjoyable, specifically considering that the different time-zones of the global attendants may result in late night sessions for those who are not in the United States (if you´ve decided to take one of the English courses). 

The Exams consist of several multiple-choice questions, which is the standard way of examination for cyber security. OneTrust allows students to use workbooks and notes during these exams, since the questions are designed to validate both theory and practice. Getting to pass the exam is confirmation that you have effectively understood and applied the content.  

The Certification is a straight-forward process: once you pass your exam, you get a certificate along with a badge that you can use on social media. These badges are valid for one year, which is reasonable considering that GRC tools evolve and date quickly. 

Room for improvement that I noted was; 

– Self-paced courses are opened to public access on a given date and you only have a week to complete the course. While I’m sure there´s a valid reason for it (although not shared with users), you may find yourself running against the clock to get the course completed if you couldn´t allocate enough time for it throughout that first week. 

– Access to content once the course has been completed is also restricted, so it´s hard to keep the learned information fresh unless you go and work straight into the live platform. 

In summary 

OneTrust has developed and implemented a great learning platform where you can acquire and certify your knowledge in one of the market leading GRC tools that you can find out there right now. It provides just the right amount of theory and practice that is required to get started, and even to get to the next level, with their multi-module platform. 

By embracing platforms like OneTrust, consultants’ proficiency is not only enhanced but this training also reinforces the FSP commitment to delivering excellence in Cyber Security.  

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