Although control frameworks vary based on the needs and characteristics of the business or organization, various key characteristics are often part of these plans. These include risk assessment ideas such as objective setting, event identification and developed response plans. Compliance with government requirements or industry guidelines can also be part of a control framework.

Other parts of a control framework may include monitoring and other elements called control activities. Monitoring processes can involve transaction reviews, quality assurance checks and various kinds of audits. Control activities promote compliance and risk mitigation and may include authorizations, reviews and verifications of IT processes, hardware setups, or other elements of an infrastructure.