Ultimus Offers Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Management Solution

Internal control management app incorporates business process management to streamline audit activities

Internal control management app incorporates business process management to streamline audit activities

Cary, NC — November 11, 2004 — Ultimus, a provider of business process management (BPM) and workflow automation solutions, today announced that it will resell, and jointly deliver, ChannelFlex's Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Internal Control Management (ICM) Application.

ChannelFlex, a long time Ultimus Business Partner, developed the application to organize the documents, processes, controls and certifications required to validate Sarbanes-Oxley compliance into a unified environment. Ernst & Young provided guidance for the development effort, based on its efforts to help clients prepare for SOX audits.

ICM is a BPM-based application for maintaining compliance with the law that, among other things, requires CEOs and chief financial officers to personally certify that appropriate controls were in place to support results documented in financial statements and filings.

The application automates the management and testing of internal controls while collecting information that certifies that the controls have been followed. It also organizes and validates the policies, procedures and documentation required to ensure compliance.

Existing business processes that are impacted by SOX can be integrated with the solution using Web services to provide a single point of reference for all SOX information.

Ultimus said the application provides confidence in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for all stake holders through an impartial system of accountability, thereby reducing the corporate and personal risks associated with compliance.

SpectraSite Inc., a Cary, N.C.-based wireless tower operator that owns, leases and licenses antenna sites on wireless and broadcast towers, has used the Ultimus BPM Suite to reduce the cost of some key business processes by well over 50 percent. The company said it is anticipating similar results from a full deployment of ICM.

Analysis from the initial pilot indicates over 20 percent savings on audit costs can be achieved. Most importantly, SpectraSite expects the distraction of SOX to diminish, allowing its management and staff to focus on business issues.

"The ICM application will give us peace of mind and ensure we are in compliance with various federal regulations for internal controls," said Sandy Bacik, CSO, for publicly traded SpectraSite. "The additional benefit of reducing costs for our company by streamlining business processes and automatically detailing audit trails only further exemplifies the value of this solution to our company."

With the ICM application, data on every control test activity is captured, recorded and retrievable for accountability and auditing purposes. Special modules focusing on audit, documentation and internal controls are all included within the application. These provide high levels of accountability by way of visibility into processes that focus on task certifications.

"Our knowledge of the Ultimus BPM Suite convinced us that it could be a key part of business efforts around Sarbanes-Oxley," said Mark Shaw, CEO of ChannelFlex. "Our solution is built for SOX compliance officers who want one place to go to find everything they need to validate their compliance with the Act."

Latest