Gartner Says Creating a Regulatory Compliance Architecture Can Help Reduce the Cost of Compliance.

Business Editors

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2004

Analysts Explain How Companies Can Best Achieve Sarbanes-Oxley

Compliance During Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004

By 2006, public companies that do not adopt a compliance management architecture will spend 50 percent more annually to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner analysts presented these findings today during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004, which is taking place here, through April 1.

"Enterprises today are struggling to deal with a complex regulatory environment full of costly unfunded mandates, while still managing tight budgets," said Rich Mogull, research director for Gartner. "Implementing a compliance architecture with an enterprise's current technology can help reduce the cost of regulatory compliance. Businesses need to use technologies that eliminate requirements to hire external auditors or consultants every time a new law appears."

Regulations are diverse but they all tend to mandate business process change, documentation and reporting. These common approaches allow businesses to develop an architecture that improves their response to any regulation, while also improving business performance.

"Vendor hype suggests that a wide variety of technologies is the answer to compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but governance and compliance are no different than most other business issues," said Brian Wood, research director for Gartner. "A compliance architecture doesn't necessarily require new software investments and does not need to be implemented across the enterprise in a single step. Most organizations will find that they already have many of the software tools they need."

Gartner analysts said that enterprises with good security and business continuity planning (BCP), a document management system and a business process management (BPM) system already have the foundation for a compliance architecture. "By expanding and standardizing the use of those systems, adding some business intelligence and perhaps a compliance tool for reporting, an organization can rapidly deploy a Level 1 architecture," Mogull said.

Further in-depth analysis on compliance is available to subscribers of the Gartner Compliance Advisory Service. This service provides exclusive Sarbanes-Oxley initiative support, including comprehensive how-to methodologies and frameworks, project management tools, example case studies and targeted discussions with subject matter experts to support specific compliance initiatives. With an exclusive research agenda targeted at meeting the unique needs of the audit or compliance committee inside publicly traded companies, the Gartner Compliance Advisory Service enables you and your organization to align your IT, finance and business units and strategize, plan, implement, manage and measure SOX initiatives successfully. For more information, go to www.gartner.com/compliance or e-mail [e-mail].

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, providing business leaders with an insightful look at the future of IT. For more than 10,000 IT professionals from the world's leading enterprises, Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of their annual planning efforts. For more information about Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004, please visit www.gartner.com/symposium or call 1-800-778-1997.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB) is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Gartner Intelligence, research and events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customized engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has 3,700 associates, including more than 1,000 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.