Software can ease the pain of manual compliance systems, says CA`s director of strategy, Colin Bannister.
He says many compliance drivers are coming out of the US, which will in time migrate to Europe and other countries such as SA.
Bannister contends, however, that the time spent implementing a project to cope with each change would be better spent ensuring that four key elements are in place, which will guarantee compliance now and when regulations change.
His four key areas are ensuring segregation of duties, ensuring audit trails and approvals, having effective change management, and ensuring that data is retained and backed up.
"I find that if you do those four things well, you get compliance." However, the challenge is that these aspects are performed manually, at great human capital and financial cost.
For example, backups require more than simply dropping files onto discs; the files need to be shown to be there and to be retrievable, Bannister says.
Three years ago, the company spent $17 million on compliance. This equates to 0.54% of its revenue. Now, the company is spending 0.18% of its revenue on compliance, thanks to software. Its latest reported figures show revenue of $3.77 billion.
The use of software, he says, has automated the process and allows the company to be more competitive as well as more cost-effective.
"It`s about building a compliance platform so that whatever changes in the future, you are compliant."
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