When firefighters arrive at a burning building, their first priority (of course) is to knock down the visible flames. Yet experienced firefighters know that when those flames are extinguished, the job isn’t done yet. That’s the time they go in and start looking for the hidden flames – the smoldering materials in a ceiling or behind a wall that could suddenly erupt and engulf them when they’re not expecting it. They know those hidden fires can be the most dangerous of all simply because they can’t be seen until it’s too late.
For the past few years, IT and compliancemanagers have been like those firefighters first arriving on the scene. You’ve been putting out the compliance fires – the big issues that have been burning brightly since SOX legislation was passed in the early part of the millennium. You’ve done a good job too, creating a new compliance structure where roles are defined, segregation of duties (SOD) is the standard and transactions are well-documented.
Yet just like those firefighters, the job isn’t finished yet. There are still all kinds of compliance issues that, while not as visible as the first ones you tackled, can still create a back-draft that will burn your organization if you’re not careful.
Following are five of the most pressing (and potentially dangerous).
