Product

BWise Continuous Controls Monitoring

August 12, 2010

Control effectiveness and integrity of transactions

The goal of CCM is to enable the instantaneous or as close to real-time monitoring of the effectiveness of controls and processes. With a CCM technology solution in place, an organization
is constantly and continuously assured of the efficacy of its internal controls. It is also rapidly notified of gaps in controls and key risks. The use of a CCM solution enables an enterprise to create efficiencies, find key risks and reduce operational risks. Continuous Controls Monitoring is typically
owned by management or business process owners. Since management is responsible for internal controls, it should have a means to determine, on an ongoing basis, whether the controls are operating as designed. This is where a CCM solution assists an organization. Technology based continuous monitoring is relatively straightforward: It is essentially a process in which key business process transactions and
controls are constantly assessed. This enables ongoing insight into the effectiveness of controls and the integrity of transactions running within them. These duties can be accomplished most effectively with CCM technology.

What are the benefits of CCM?

CCM technology can be of profound benefit to an organisation. Primarily, a CCM solution offers continuous visibility of the state of controls for management, that is, an independent perspective, free from basic operational and financial systems. Secondly, CCM assists with the responsiveness
of the enterprise. An enterprise can react quicker and more effectively with a CCM solution. Lastly,
continuous monitoring enables more complete data access and improved control and audit data warehousing.
This can lead to better historical data for an enterprise’s finance and audit departments and provide the foundation for benchmarking and the improvement of controls and processes.

Bringing two worlds together

These functions and capabilities when integrated with an Enterprise GRC solution can build even greater benefits for an organisation. Currently, Continuous Controls Monitoring and GRC initiatives are separate, with vendors specializing in either field. An integrated solution that brings these two worlds together can produce tremendous benefits and efficiencies for an enterprise. BWise provides a CCM solution that not only integrates with the BWise Enterprise GRC platform, but can also integrate with many different systems or databases, including SAP, Oracle, financial systems or IT management
systems. The data from BWise CCM can be used by management for the continual assessment and appraisal
of a control’s effectiveness. Ultimately, auditable evidence can even be collected from these external systems and can be used by internal and external auditors for continuous auditing of the organization. Lastly, the BWise CCM solution includes standardized rules for continuous monitoring, but also enables an enterprise to fine tune its monitoring rules and create new rules.

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