The Hidden Costs of Siloed Compliance Systems in Research (And What To Do About It)

Siloed systems have become a liability, one that institutions can no longer afford to ignore.

If you're overseeing research compliance, chances are you're using separate systems for your IRB, IACUC, IBC, and other committees. It makes sense to have distinct systems, given each committee's unique requirements, so why not provide them with dedicated tools?

But here's the problem: those separate systems are quietly draining your budget, slowing down your research, and creating risks you might not even notice. What seems like a simple organizational decision is actually costing you thousands of dollars and countless hours each month.

Let’s take a closer look at what's really going on behind the scenes and how you can fix it.

#1. Cost of Siloed System: Your Research Team Is Doing the Same Work Multiple Times

When you have separate systems, your team ends up entering the same information multiple times. 

 Here’s what likely happens in your office:

A researcher submits a protocol that requires approval from both the IACUC (for animal care and use) and the IBC (for biological safety). The protocol details are entered into the IACUC system, and then the same information is entered into the IBC system. This leads to redundant data entry for the same protocol across different systems, doubling the workload.

When the protocol needs to be amended (e.g., a change in research methodology), your team must manually update both systems. If one update is missed, it creates discrepancies between the systems. During an audit or review, this mismatch could result in significant compliance issues.

Finally, your team may end up spending hours each week duplicating efforts by copying information from one system to update information on another system. This is time-consuming for research teams, which could otherwise be used more effectively.

#2. Cost of Siloed System: Your Approval Process Takes Too Long

You’ve likely noticed that research projects requiring approvals from multiple compliance committees take much longer than expected.

Each committee operates within its own system, following its own schedule. For example, the IACUC might not review a protocol until their next meeting, which could be weeks after the IRB has already approved it. If the IACUC requests changes, the protocol must go back to the IRB for another review.

Without integrated systems, coordinating these reviews becomes a challenge. A protocol change that should take a few days can end up taking weeks, simply because the committees aren’t aligned and cannot work together efficiently.

For researchers working against tight grant deadlines, these delays can result in missed funding opportunities.

#3. Cost of Siloed System: You're Always Scrambling for Audits

When an audit notice arrives, your team probably goes into panic mode. Why? Because your documentation is scattered across multiple systems.

You need to pull protocol records from the IRB system, animal care records from the IACUC system, and biological safety records from the IBC system. Then someone has to manually cross-check all these records to ensure they align and convey a consistent information.

This scramble takes weeks of preparation time. And worse, if the information residing in your systems doesn't match perfectly, auditors will start questioning your compliance processes, putting your institution’s credibility at risk..

#4. Cost of Siloed System: Your Budget Is Taking Hidden Hits

Although the obvious costs are the licensing fees for multiple systems, the hidden costs are much bigger:

• Staff Time: Your skilled professionals are expensive, and when they spend 30% of their time on data entry and system coordination, you're wasting their expertise and your salary budget.
• Training Costs: Every new staff member must learn how to use multiple systems. Each system update requires separate training sessions, which continually increase your training budget.
• IT Support: Managing multiple systems means dealing with multiple vendors, security protocols, and integration challenges. This results in higher IT costs and resource allocation.
• Risk Costs: When systems aren’t properly integrated and the information is scattered, you risk compliance errors. This lack of integration leads to increased chances of discrepancies, which can result in costly violations.

#5. Cost of Siloed System: Leadership Cannot See the Big Picture

As a leader, you need a comprehensive view of what's happening across your entire research portfolio. But with separate systems, gaining that visibility is nearly impossible.

If you want to know which committees are overloaded, you have to check each system individually. To track protocol timelines across committees, you need to manually compile data from multiple sources.

This lack of visibility makes it difficult to plan resources effectively, identify bottlenecks, or make informed, strategic decisions about your research operations.

So, what can you do about these siloed systems? How can your institution overcome the inefficiencies, delays, and compliance risks they create?

The answer lies in integrated compliance systems. These systems are designed to:

• Centralize data
• Automate workflows
• Eliminate redundant manual processes

In short, these systems address the very challenges that siloed systems create.

Integrated Compliance System: The Perfect Antidote to Siloed Compliance Systems

Integrated compliance systems unify your compliance management across various committees into one platform and ensure that all committee workflows are synchronized, minimizing the need for manual updates. When a protocol is amended, for instance, the system alerts the principal investigators and ensures the information is updated in relevant committees.

Automation of workflows transforms the process. With everything integrated into one system, your audit trail becomes automatically complete and consistent. When auditors request documentation, you can generate detailed reports in minutes.

Gone are the days of scrambling to align records from different systems or stressing over discrepancies. Now, your documentation presents one clear, unified story.

Also, with integrated system, your teams spend less time on administrative tasks and can focus on more valuable activities.

In short, integrating your compliance systems not only solves the inefficiencies caused by silos but also enhances your ability to make quicker, data-driven decisions and maintain better control over the compliance landscape.

Here are a few benefits of an integrated compliance system like eProtocol. 

• Efficiency: The primary benefit of integration is improved efficiency. When compliance data is stored in a unified platform, research teams can automate workflows and reduce manual data transfers.

For example, when a committee flags a protocol amendment, the system alerts the Principal Investigator (PI), ensuring they are aware of the necessary updates. While the PI still needs to update the protocol manually, these system alerts reduce the risk of forgetting or delaying significant changes, keeping the process on track without requiring manual oversight from research administrators.

• Unified Visibility Across Committees: eProtocol provides unified visibility into compliance data through a single, intuitive dashboard. This platform offers researchers and leadership a centralized view of the status of protocols across all committees (e.g., IRB, IACUC, IBC). 

Research leaders can easily track the progress of submissions, monitor committee workloads, and stay informed about potential regulatory risks. This visibility empowers better decision-making and ensures that all involved parties are aligned, helping to address compliance issues before they escalate.

• Reduced Risk: Automated updates and seamless data flow in eProtocol help ensure your institution remains aligned with changing regulatory requirements. When new biosafety regulations or other guidelines are introduced, eProtocol simplifies the process of integrating those changes into your compliance workflows, making it easy for your team to stay current without manual tracking. 

This proactive approach minimizes the risk of non-compliance, keeps your institution audit-ready, and ensures your compliance efforts are always up-to-date. The result? Reduced regulatory scrutiny and strengthened institutional reputation.

With eProtocol, the benefits of efficiency, transparency in processes, and reduced risk are clear. However, it doesn't stop there. These advantages support research teams to focus on what matters most.

Ready to move away from the complexities of siloed systems and streamline your compliance processes? Reach out today, and one of our experts will connect with you to show you how eProtocol can transform your research compliance operations.
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