Wednesday 21 April 2010

WHY MORE COMPANIES ARE TURNING TOWARDS SaaS?

Gartner predicts that the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market eclipsed $820 million in sales in 2008, up from $643 million in 2007, and will continue to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 30 percent for the next three years. What is driving more and more companies worldwide towards SaaS?

Whether it's a Fortune 500 company or one man band running a brokerage house the days of downloading and installing the latest version of an anti-virus to your PC are over. With the ever increasing usage of mobile devices, social networking sites as well as dependency on user-generated content for business purposes, analysts say the breadth and depth of gaping security holes grows faster and more insidious by the hour. This combined with the fact that companies can only control up to a certain extend what their employees are downloading or installing on their individual PCs makes a company’s entire network vulnerable to hackers. Given this scenario its easy to understand why more and more companies are turning towards Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Information Security is one of the driving reasons why companies feel the need to turn towards a more secure solution such as SaaS.

Besides security, another major reason for companies’ shift towards SaaS is controlling operation costs. To be in sync with today’s highly competitive environment companies need to invest time and money in the latest software and technologies relevant to their businesses. But due to the operation cost of hiring and training of IT staff, investing in hardware and software, most companies lack behind. In such a situation SaaS seems to be the obvious solution. Through SaaS the companies get access to the latest technologies without disturbing their operational costs.

Companies such as Tabaq Software are offering specialised solutions in SaaS. jComply, a complete policies and procedures management system by Tabaq is available as Software-as-a-Service. jComply SaaS is cost effective, faster to deploy, requires no initial capital outlay and is scalable.
For more information on jComply SaaS visit www.tabaqsoftware.com/products/jcomply/saas

WHY COMPANIES NEED STRONGER ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CONTROLS?

It is tempting for many organisations to view AML training programs as 'just another compliance burden'. As a result, part of the focus of the new AML regime to date has been on the large individual and corporate penalties that may be levied for non-compliance under the Act. In fact companies can be fined as much as $ 11 million for a breach of a civil penalty provision and individuals can be fined up to $2.2 million. These fines may also quickly escalate if multiple breaches are involved.

For companies which have yet to realize the importance of implementation and training of AML programs it is worth considering the potential costs and risks of having an inadequate approach to money laundering. Besides financial lose due to penalties companies face various other risks such as reputational risks, regulatory risks, legal risks and concentration risks as result of non-compliance with AML policies. Companies conducting business internationally have a higher risk factor especially those subject to the AML regimes of the UK and the US. Such companies are increasingly looking to deal with other companies with a strong AML program in place in order to help meet their own AML regulatory requirements and to avoid guilt by association. The biggest risk for any organisation besides financial lose is potential damage to its reputation arising from the organisation’s alleged involvement in money laundering or even worse, terrorism. In today’s world no organisation can stand the risk of association with terrorism. Clearly its up to the organisation’s chartered secretaries and MLRO (Money Laundering Reporting Officer) to promote the message and its importance within the company.
As costly and time-consuming AML compliance will be for an organisation, there are a range of real benefits to be gained from a robust AML compliance program that has been endorsed by its governing body including:
  • Increased revenue and marketing opportunities through the acquisition of more comprehensive and reliable customer information through KYC and Due Diligence.
  • Reducing bad debts and fraud losses as a result of enhanced customer due diligence
  • Improving operational efficiencies through more integrated and automated management of financial crime
  • Reducing the risks of exposure to corruption, identity crime, terrorist financing and a range of other potentially damaging criminal activities
  • Enhancing the overall control and risk environment by tightly linking AML to broader operational risk measures with potentially favourable outcomes for capital adequacy requirements.
Every organisation with a strong knowledge and objective to support and implement AML program should have a plan in place including an efficient software for risk assessment, generation and dissemination of related policies and procedures and training of employees on regular basis.