In 2004 corporate spending for compliance and corporate governance accounted for less than 5% of a company's IT budget. In 2006 that number will increase to 10%-15%, according to a study by Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc.
Gartner's 2005 Financial Compliance Management Survey -- based on 326 audit, finance and IT professionals in North American and Europe -- showed that a large percentage of IT resources are now dedicated to Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the U.S. and other global regulatory requirements.
"Projects that were not aligned with compliance and corporate governance were delayed or cancelled, and SOX efforts inhibited the purchase of large amounts of software related to building new technologies and deploying new projects," said French Caldwell, research vice president for Gartner. "However, by the second half of 2005, increased interest in IT solutions to ease the burden of compliance has begun to drive new spending."
While businesses initially invested in software that would assist in complying with SOX projects only, new software will also be able to provide additional functions including; business process management, corporate performance management, information access and decision support, document and records management and security.
The report can be accessed at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=487387
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