Execs describe Sarbanes-Oxley compliance lessons learned
They would have devoted more time and dedicated resources to the effort
Computerworld - 
![]()
Neil Frieser, vice president of internal controls at Viacom Inc.
Image Credit: The Institute for Financial Excellence![]()
"You want to start the process early, to educate as many people as possible," said Neil Frieser, vice president of internal controls at Viacom Inc. Frieser, a speaker at The Sarbanes-Oxley Conference & Exhibition, held here yesterday, said Viacom conducted a staggering 19,600 tests on 1,560 business controls and 540 IT controls last year to meet Section 404 of the law. The work covered 116 business processes and 75 IT applications throughout the media company, whose divisions include CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon.
One of the best decisions Viacom executives made was to identify and test internal controls centrally rather than handing the work off to each of a dozen business unit leaders, he said. "We developed a lot of guidance centrally instead of having a lot of guesswork in each of the business units. We weren't perfect in 2004, but we got more right than we got wrong."

![]()
Michael Hultberg, executive director at Time Warner Inc.
Image Credit: The Institute for Financial Excellence![]()
Looking back on Time Warner's first-year compliance efforts, Hultberg recommended that companies assign dedicated staffers to handle the work. "It's a heck of a lot cheaper than hiring [a third party]," he said.
Unlike Viacom and Time Warner, whose businesses are highly decentralized, The Dow Chemical Co. has a centralized business model to support 165 manufacturing sites in 37 countries. As a result, when the Midland, Mich.-based chemical manufacturer conducted 30,000 internal control tests last year to meet its Section 404 requirements, all self-assessments were reviewed by each of the work process owners, followed by the company's internal audit department, said Ron Edmonds, global accounting director for the company.

![]()
Ron Edmonds, global accounting director of The Dow Chemical Co.
Image Credit: The Institute for Financial Excellence![]()



- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
- As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
- Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
- Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
- Smarter Commerce is redefining value chain visibility
- Smarter Commerce is redefining the value chain in the age of the customer. It starts with putting the customer at the center of...
- Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives
- This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make...
- The Executive Buyer's Guide to Project Portfolio Management
- The Innotas Executive Buyer's Guide provides you with a concise overview of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and delivers important buying criteria to help... All Management and Careers White Papers
- Live Webcast
Integrated IT Operations Management in the Cloud - Join award-winning technology editor Stan Gibson and Andrew White, CMO at Numara Software, to learn how asset management and service management are converging...
- Integrated IT Operations Management in the Cloud
- Join award-winning technology editor Stan Gibson and Andrew White, CMO at Numara Software, to learn how asset management and service management are converging...
- Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
- Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
- Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
- Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn... All Management and Careers Webcasts