Finding The ROI In Compliance

Smart CIOs view Sarbox as an opportunity to make process improvements that result in greater profitability

By Bob Hower Courtesy of Optimize

Mention Sarbanes-Oxley in a room full of corporate executives, and you're not likely to get a warm welcome. When most CIOs hear "Sarbox," they see red--not because of Boston's amazing baseball team last year, but because Sarbox initiatives can divert budget money from more productive projects. However, by looking beyond simple adherence to Sarbox, CIOs can use compliance as an opportunity to make needed process changes that yield substantially improved operating results.


After President Bush signed the Sarbox bill in 2002, many observers believed the new rules governing corporate accountability, financial disclosures, insider trading, and internal control and reporting would primarily affect senior executives, along with accounting and finance departments. But in practice, IT departments have borne a heavy share of the Sarbox-compliance burden because financial information and many of a company's most valuable assets reside in its IT systems.

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