Virsa Reports That Information and Finance Executives Expect Benefits from Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Down the Road.

FREMONT, Calif. -- Virsa Systems, Inc., a leader in real-time cross enterprise software solutions for regulatory compliance, today announced results from a recent survey. The findings provide new insights on the costs and benefits that compliance managers expect from implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires more rigorous auditing of financial processes and financial reporting for public companies. It also makes the top officers of a company personally responsible for the accuracy of its financial reports.

The survey of 130 finance, information, and security professionals from a variety of companies found that virtually all of the respondents thought the Act was either a necessity or well-intended, even though it is challenging to comply. Only two of the 130 respondents indicated that they thought the Act was an unnecessary headache and that their companies would receive no benefits at all from its regulations.

Benefits of SOX Include Damage Control and Improvement of Business Processes

Despite the widely documented costs and upheavals involved with compliance, those who are most directly responsible for implementation of the Act appear to recognize that increased supervision and control of financial processes are important objectives.

Companies see a variety of benefits resulting from implementation. Discovering potentially damaging control weaknesses and managing corporate risk more effectively were among the benefits most frequently selected by the respondents. Other benefits cited included shortening the financial close period, reducing fraud, and increasing their board's effectiveness.

Interestingly, managers also saw the Act as a way to improve business processes. More than 70% said that they thought implementing compliance measures would "increase understanding and communication of business processes," and half of the respondents said they would be able to "optimize business processes during the documentation effort."

Automation of Controls a Top Priority

Managers are not willing to give the Act a free pass, however. Nearly half of the respondents said that the amount of effort expended on installing compliance measures was "much more than expected," and one in five respondents felt that Sarbanes-Oxley "created a cost burden that is not sustainable over time." Still, 65% of the respondents expect that the effort involved in implementing Sarbanes-Oxley will decrease, and that future years will be easier than Year One.

One reason for this more optimistic outlook may be the expectation that increased automation will smooth the path moving forward. Virtually every company surveyed who reported that the effort expended was "much more than expected" also indicated that automation would be either a moderate or top priority for their companies' compliance measures as they moved ahead. 80% of respondents said automation was either a moderate or top priority for their firms.

"Much of the initial cost of compliance was a result of many companies needing to accelerate from a standing start," commented Douglas C Laird, senior vice president of Global Marketing for Virsa. "Companies have now realized the key element in sustaining compliance and achieving business benefit is through a preventative approach that incorporates automation of business process controls. This survey is evidence that enterprises are turning to software solutions like Virsa to reduce costs and gain greater vision into business operations. Soon companies will begin to recognize a competitive advantage through compliance."

For more information on the survey, please contact Scott Leatherman at [e-mail].

About Virsa:

Virsa Systems, Inc. is the developer of real-time, compliance and controls software for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Purpose-built to maintain continuous compliance with stringent regulatory mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Virsa's solutions automate risk assessment, eliminate false positives, and deliver real-time simulation and remediation capabilities. By offering the world's largest library of built-in, best practice rules, Virsa delivers accelerated implementation and faster remediation with the lowest cost of implementation. The acknowledged market leader, Virsa has the sector's largest installed base of enterprise customers and the preferred solutions for security, controls and corporate governance. Virsa is a privately funded company with investments from Kleiner Perkins, LightSpeed and SAP Ventures. For more information, go to www.virsa.com.