The Cost and Burden of Manual Governance in Regulated Industries

At its core, manual governance persists because of one question: How do you prove that you did what you were supposed to do? Regulations require organizations to provide evidence that software changes are safe, compliant, and secure.

The problem is that this evidence-gathering process has remained manual, cumbersome, and resistant to automation. The burden of adhering to compliance and regulatory requirements has not only slowed release cycles but also drained resources, increased costs, and left organizations vulnerable to penalties for errors and omissions.

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DevOps Left Regulated Industries Behind — Here’s Why That’s a Problem

Regulated industries have long been at odds with modern software development. While DevOps has enabled faster, automated workflows for most sectors, industries like finance, healthcare, and government have been left struggling to keep up. One reason? Manual governance.

Let’s break down the real cost of manual governance and why it’s holding regulated industries back.

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The Hidden Costs of Manual Governance

In regulated industries, every software change requires proof that it meets compliance standards. While this sounds reasonable in theory, the reality is far more complex. Every change triggers a series of manual tasks — audits, reviews, approvals — that compound over time.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• 72 Hours Per Change: According to IT Service Management (ITSM) standards, each production change takes an average of 72 hours.
• Hourly Cost of $36: Multiply that by a standard hourly rate of $36 for administrative work, and the total cost per change amounts to $2,592.
• The Scale Problem: As the number of production changes grows, so does the cost. Each release cycle adds layers of overhead, creating a bottleneck.

The result? Manual governance scales costs quickly while slowing down the entire development process.

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Engineering vs. Administrative Tasks: The Imbalance

When you map out a typical month-long release cycle, one aspect quickly becomes clear: most of the time is spent on non-engineering tasks.

• Engineering Tasks (e.g., coding, testing, deployments) are efficient because of  automation.
• Administrative Tasks (e.g., reviews, approvals, documentation) are typically slow, manual, and resource-intensive.

While DevOps has automated many engineering workflows, governance has remained a manual process. This imbalance means developers can complete their work quickly, but the organization still can’t ship if they’re waiting on reviews, approvals, and documentation.

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What This Means for Organizations

The cost of manual governance extends far beyond dollars and hours:

1. Slower Release Cycles: New features and fixes take longer to reach production.
2. Resource Drain: Teams waste time on administrative tasks instead of building new capabilities.
3. Higher Risk Exposure: Manual processes are prone to human error, increasing the risk of non-compliance.
4. Leadership Pressure: Leaders face penalties for errors, omissions, or delays caused by inefficient processes.

In industries where speed and innovation are critical, manual governance is holding teams back — and costing some organizations millions.

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The Path Forward

To break free from manual governance, organizations need to rethink their approach. Instead of treating compliance as a series of disconnected tasks, teams need processes that:

• Automate Evidence Collection: Reduce the manual burden of producing audit artifacts.
• Streamline Approvals: Align compliance workflows with modern DevOps practices.
• Focus on Outcomes: Meet regulatory requirements without sacrificing speed or efficiency.

Manual governance isn’t just a problem — it’s a crisis for regulated industries. It slows innovation, increases costs, and exposes leaders to unnecessary risks.

However, with the right approach, organizations can align compliance with modern software development, enabling faster, safer, and more efficient release cycles.

In the next parts of this series, we’ll explore the root causes of this problem and how organizations can streamline governance without compromising compliance.