Lotus Queues Up Software To Aid In Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

Due in the fourth quarter, Lotus Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting Version 1 will combine IBM content management and portal capabilities with new code.

That code includes a control assessment template that will map numbers from a company's various reporting structures into a template that mirrors a company's operations, said Larry Bowden, vice president of portals and Lotus products.

"If you're a global company with five or 30 divisions, you need to use their directories to map reporting structures into a rollup that lets each successive manager see the people and financial information beneath so they can certify the numbers to their boss and their boss all the way up to the CEO, who has to sign off," Bowden said.

Bowden hinted at the advent of this product in an interview with CRN last month but provided little detail.

The template provides the workflows and teaming capability that uses Lotus Sametime instant messaging and Workplace capabilities to allow discussions on various points. All of that relevant discussion is then archived per the regulations. Since that time, analytics, business intelligence and other companies have rushed to the fore claiming Sarbanes-Oxley support in their offerings.

Sarbanes-Oxley, passed by the U.S. Congress in July 2002, was a response to Enron and other accounting scandals. It mandates more timely and "transparent" financial disclosures and that CEOs of public companies certify or sign off on their results.

IBM partner Ascendant Technology specializes in the health-care and industrial verticals but has been looking at professional practices and regulatory compliance and might be interested in such an offering, said Blair Hankins, CTO of the Austin, Texas-based ISV.

IBM already fielded WebSphere Content Manager and portal offerings that could be applied to Sarbanes-Oxley, but this server is tailor-made for that purpose, Bowden said.

In addition, companies or integrators that need more information about broad industry classes can purchase "knowledge bases" or control catalogs from KPMG. The catalogs include internal controls that can be applied to various business processes.

Pricing for the new Workplace software has yet to be determined.