First Annual OpenPages User Conference Provides Insight into Current State of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Readiness.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Focus Shifts from Internal Controls Documentation to Section 404 Audit Preparation

OpenPages, a leading provider of enterprise governance, risk and compliance management solutions, today reported that its first annual user conference, the OpenPages User Symposium (OPUS), yielded important insights into how companies are progressing in their efforts to meet the compliance requirements outlined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

With more than half of the OpenPages customer base in attendance, OPUS 2004 served as a forum to share ideas and best practices in the areas of enterprise governance, risk and compliance management. With internal controls documentation completed, the focus of the discussion was centered on preparing for the first-ever Section 404 audit.

"OpenPages customers represent the forward-looking thinkers in the area of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Whether it be in documenting internal controls or reducing the costs associated with compliance, they are the leaders in their industries," said Michael J. Duffy, president and CEO of OpenPages. "The OPUS conference enabled our customers to share ideas, set expectations and develop strategies in advance of the second financial audit they will face in January and February. This newly developed community of users has joined together to ensure their mutual compliance success, while providing OpenPages' newer customers invaluable expertise to ease their compliance burdens."

OPUS 2004, brought together a significant cross-section of OpenPages customers, as well as industry experts and analysts, leading risk and assurance firms, and technology providers, to discuss their compliance efforts to date, share perspectives and obtain valuable advice from each other. Presentations and discussions were led by OpenPages customers and executives, while recognized experts on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and enterprise risk management offered their expertise to the attendees. Featured presenters at the conference included Lynn Edelson, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Systems and Process Assurance Practice leader; enterprise risk management expert and author, James Lam; and Michael Rasmussen, principal analyst for risk and compliance management at Forrester Research. Leading technology providers in the areas of business intelligence and information storage and management, Cognos, Hyperion and EMC Corporation, were also presenters at the conference.

In addition to focusing on the upcoming Section 404 audit, attendees developed best practices for defining a successful compliance strategy, discussed how companies can use compliance to improve business operations, and outlined the evolution from Sarbanes-Oxley compliance to enterprise risk management. Attendees represented more than half of OpenPages 100-plus Global 2000 customer base, with leading firms in the manufacturing, media and entertainment, pharmaceutical, high technology, consumer products, financial services, telecommunications, and energy and power industries.

OpenPages' SOX Express is an enterprise compliance management solution that reduces the time and resource costs associated with ongoing compliance for Sections 302 and 404. SOX Express is a focused enterprise application that combines powerful document and business process management with flexible reporting capabilities in an extremely easy-to-use environment that enables CEOs, CFOs and financial management officers to enforce internal controls. SOX Express helps corporations automate significant aspects of their internal controls framework to significantly reduce the overall cost of compliance. Its dashboards can be used by project managers, documentation team members, internal auditors and external auditors to plan, document and test the internal controls of the company.

For more information on OpenPages' line of enterprise governance and compliance management solutions or to register for a weekly webinar, please call 781-647-3800 or visit www.openpages.com.

About OpenPages

Founded in 1996, OpenPages develops enterprise governance, risk and compliance management solutions that streamline knowledge-intensive processes to improve corporate accountability, reduce disclosure process cost, enhance internal controls management productivity, and increase investor confidence. The company's portfolio of solutions includes Sarbanes-Oxley Express (SOX Express), the market-leading enterprise application for automating the corporate financial reporting and disclosure compliance requirements of Sections 404 and 302 of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

OpenPages is a trademark of OpenPages, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.