The plethora of legislation around the world regulating company behaviour and ethics has proved a boon for fax and workflow software solution provider Captaris, says the company`s CEO Dave Anastasi.
Captaris, known for its RightFax fax and electronic documents solutions, last week hosted its international partner conference in the Western Cape town of Somerset West. It was attended by its partners from around the world and local partner AmVia`s delegates accounted for almost a third of the 140 attendees.
"I call it [legislation] the gift that keeps on giving," Anastasi says.
He says legislation such as America`s Sarbanes-Oxley Act and South African laws such as the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the Amended Companies Act means that corporations have to put in place systems to accurately track their correspondence, billings and orders to ensure legal compliance and accountability.
"In the US, we now have to physically print out and sign e-mails. This means we are sometimes taking the technology out of compliance," Anastasi says.
SA penetration
"If we had to extrapolate AmVia`s penetration of the South African market into our worldwide activities, Captaris would be triple its size and be a $250 million (R1.2 billion) company," says Captaris COO Matthias Scheuing.
AmVia MD Kevin Hurwitz says his company has placed about 2 000 installations of Captaris` products in SA and plans to aggressively expand its presence.
"We have conducted surveys of what the clients need and coupled this with the products` good reputation, and so we will not rest on our laurels," he says.
More to come
Gartner analyst Regina Casonato says companies can expect the number of laws and regulations that affect their behaviour to continue to grow.
"There is no sign that there will be a let up. Too many companies and investors have been burnt in the past and the recent high-profile legal cases mean governments, especially in Europe and the US, will continue to increase legislation. This means electronic content management will become increasingly important," she says.
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