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Software for Leading Change in a Complex World |
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Obian Mitiware: The Management Framework For SOX Success As a CIO, learning how to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) is like peeling an onion - once you think you understand one layer of the regulation and your requirements, another layer of complexity is uncovered. The first layer was supporting the CFO regarding Section 302 financial reporting compliance; the second was assisting the CFO and internal audit departmental assessing financial controls as required by Section 404. But the third layer is the most difficult and personal - assessing IT controls as they affect financial reporting. Like all new IT responsibilities, SOX-mandated control assessment is fraught with FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. Fear that the corporation's external auditor will identify material control weaknesses in IT operations and list them for the entire world to see as part of the corporation's 10-K filing. Uncertainty as to how to correctly meet the SOX Section 404 requirements for IT control assessment. Doubt that there is a reliable source of information about how to achieve compliance. There is a tried and true management technique for dealing with the type of high-level FUD associated with the current SOX requirements - establish a comprehensive, flexible, sustainable framework specifically designed for managing the challenge. For SOX IT controls assessment, Obian Mitiware is the appropriate management framework. Obian Mitiware has been proven to exceed the needs of both senior IT executives who need to quick start their IT assessment efforts and those who initially took a project-focused approach and must now monitor their department's IT assessment efforts as an on-going effort. You must consider deploying Obian Mitiware as your IT assessment framework if your IT organization: 1. Has submitted its assessment of its IT controls to the external auditor and the external auditor has failed any of these controls; 2. Has done a superb job of implementing and documenting individual IT controls but does not have a management process in place to catalogue all its IT controls and the required assessment documentation that associates the controls with business processes, risks, control objectives, control activities and tests; 3. Has not yet established formal guidelines for assessing IT controls or has had current guidelines failed by the internal control function; 4. Operates IT operations in multiple locations - having the Obian Mitiware framework in place is especially important for overseeing the control assessment efforts of non-US IT operations; 5. Must install as a central repository a SOX- appropriate document management system with associated best IT control assessment management practices for storing working papers for seven years as mandated by SOX; 6. Has been directed to lower its annual cost of complying with Section 404 IT controls assessment; 7. Must assist the CEO, CFO, and Board of Director's Audit Committee in their management responsibility for being actively involved in the assessment of the corporation's internal controls as mandated by SOX; 8. Must formally communicate its assessment of IT controls to the corporation's, CEO, CFO, internal auditor, and external auditor every quarter as a condition for meeting the requirements for future SEC filings. For more information about how Obian Mitiware can help your IT organization, please call Pete Steiner, Obian's Vice-President of Sales, at 781-270-6800 ext 36 or email him at psteiner@obian.com . Or, if you prefer, just click here and email us your name and phone number to arrange an in- depth briefing and demonstration. We will prove to you how Obian Mitiware can provide you with the IT framework necessary to correctly manage your corporation's SOX Section 404 challenges.
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Obian, Inc. · 20 Burlington Mall Road · Burlington · MA · 01803 Forward
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