SOX investment levels out
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IT directors who maintain that the expense of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance leaves less in the pot for IT innovation will be pleased to learn that previously rapidly escalating levels of SOX investment are finally flattening out.
Figures recently released by IT industry advisory group AMR Research suggest that spending on SOX compliance will remain steady in 2007. After rapid spending in the early years from 2003-2005, investment has remained steady at around the $6 billion mark since then. Spending is however expected to rise slightly in 2008 to reach $6.2 billion.
At that point, companies will have cumulatively spent $32.3 billion on SOX compliance, says AMR. The bulk of that investment (almost $24 billion) has been in people and consulting services, with only $8.6 billion having been spent on technology.
It is not, however, an empty investment. Almost half of respondents admitted that newly streamlined business processes were the primary benefit of SOX, a positive side-effect of governance, risk management and compliance efforts.
