Building a Modern, Scalable Audit and Compliance Program with Onspring

OVERVIEW

Williams is a leading North American energy infrastructure company that handles one third of the natural gas used every day in the United States. With more than a century of steady growth and modernization, the company continues to advance its systems to support safe operations, regulatory compliance and reliable service across the energy value chain.

When Williams set out to modernize its internal audit technology, the team needed more than a replacement for its aging homegrown system. They needed reliable reporting, stronger transparency, and a unified place to manage audit workpapers and SOX compliance.

Jo Morton, a business process analyst who has spent nearly three decades in the Internal Audit Department, led the search for a platform that could support both today’s needs and future growth. The turning point came when Williams’ IT leadership insisted that any new solution must function as an enterprise-ready tool, not a single-department system. Onspring checked every box.

“We felt like Onspring was capable of being an enterprise tool where we could bring lots of different groups in on it,” Jo explained. 

That vision is now becoming reality as teams across Williams adopt the platform for broader governance, compliance and operational workflows.

Challenge

Before Onspring, Williams relied on internally built technology to manage audit workpapers. The tool worked for many years but eventually reached a breaking point.

The underlying technology was no longer supportable, reporting was limited and important functions were split across multiple systems. The audit team needed a flexible solution that improved visibility and consolidated work into one place.

“We really had to come up with a better solution for the company,” Jo said. 

The team also needed a platform IT could support long term. That meant choosing a system with enterprise potential, not a one-off application.

Solution

Why Williams Chose Onspring

1. Enterprise-wide Scalability

Although Williams began using Onspring within Internal Audit and SOX, interest has expanded quickly.

Today, multiple groups either use Onspring or are actively evaluating it, including:

• GRC and TSA compliance
• Business continuity and disaster recovery
• Internal Audit
• SOX compliance
• Enterprise Architecture

Across the company, teams are recognizing the value of a shared system for governance and operational processes. “Departments all over the company are now wanting to leverage it,” Jo said.

2. Flexible Configuration without Complexity

Williams initially customized heavily, trying to mimic old processes. Over time, Jo realized the team didn’t need to recreate the past.

She shared this advice, “One of the mistakes we made early on was trying to build something we had instead of leveraging Onspring the way it is best designed.” 

Now she encourages new teams to start with Onspring’s structure and make small adjustments to fit their needs.

3. Reporting that Empowers Every User

Whether building dashboards or creating simple data pulls, the reporting experience has been a standout advantage.

“You can do anything with reports,” Jo said. “Individual users can do their own reports, and that’s pretty unheard of for such a robust application.”

Implementation and Onboarding

Even though implementation occurred years ago, Jo still remembers how smooth the process felt.

• Onspring’s team worked directly with Williams to configure the system.
• The project finished under time and under budget.
• Support was accessible and responsive throughout the process.

Jo emphasized how rare it is to receive expert guidance without added cost. “They are very responsive and very good at giving you direction without sending you a bill for every little question.”

Measuring Success

Williams didn’t set formal KPIs at the outset, but success became obvious as soon as users experienced how simple it was to build, report and collaborate in Onspring.

The strongest indicator is the growing internal demand. “The fact that departments all over the company want to leverage it… I think that is how we measure our success,” Jo said.

She also highlighted how quickly the team could see value. The platform delivered the reporting clarity they needed almost immediately.

A Platform that Evolves without Disruption

With nearly a decade of use, Williams has seen significant changes in Onspring’s capabilities — including AI innovations — without facing upgrade burdens or broken configurations.

• “One of the things I love is that Onspring is constantly rolling out new things… and when they roll it out, it doesn’t impact how you’ve built your version.”

  Jo Morton

  – Business Analyst

  Williams

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Updates appear automatically, are safe to enable when ready and come with training resources that make adoption simple.

Results

As Williams expanded its use of Onspring over the years, the benefits became increasingly visible across teams. What started as a modernization effort for Internal Audit grew into a broader shift in how the organization manages governance and compliance activities. The impact shows up in everyday workflows, stakeholder engagement and the company’s growing confidence in a platform that continues to evolve without disruption.

The most meaningful outcomes include:

• Modernized audit and SOX processes in a unified system
• Reliable, flexible reporting accessible to every user
• Strong adoption and interest across multiple business groups
• Faster access to guidance and support
• Safe, disruption-free upgrades and innovations
• A growing internal community of Onspring champions

These results reinforced the decision to move away from a homegrown solution and gave Williams a scalable foundation for future operational and compliance needs.

Conclusion

For Williams, Onspring has become more than an audit tool. It’s a foundation for consistent, connected governance across the business. Easy configuration, reliable support, and a strong user community keep the platform evolving as the company does.

“In summary, it is very easy to configure, very easy to use. The support is outstanding and very responsive,” Jo said.

After nearly 30 years with Williams and seven years with Onspring, she sees the platform as a long-term partner in helping teams work more efficiently, stay aligned, and continue modernizing across the enterprise.