Compliance-Only Approaches
Compliance-only approaches refer to software development or operational strategies where teams focus narrowly on meeting regulatory, legal, or policy requirements without integrating broader quality, security, or business goals. This often involves treating compliance as a checklist or afterthought, leading to minimal-effort implementations that may not align with best practices. It is commonly criticized for creating technical debt, inefficiencies, and vulnerabilities by prioritizing short-term adherence over long-term sustainability.
Developers should learn about compliance-only approaches to understand their pitfalls and avoid them in regulated industries like finance, healthcare, or government, where compliance is mandatory but should not be isolated. This knowledge helps in advocating for integrated compliance strategies, such as DevSecOps or privacy-by-design, which embed requirements throughout the development lifecycle to improve outcomes. Recognizing this approach is crucial for identifying risks and promoting more holistic practices that balance compliance with performance and innovation.