Powerful Insights

Chief audit executives and internal audit leaders are once again focusing on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work, which has taken on a new dynamic in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. But these leaders and professionals are not the only ones immersed in this work. Chief financial officers (CFOs) and finance leaders and staff continue to perform numerous activities related to financial reporting and attestation work, all in the “new normal” business world in which companies are now operating.

Protiviti recently released the results of its 2020 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey in a new report, SOX Compliance Amid a New Business Equilibrium. Our report and other materials and insights can be found at www.protiviti.com/SOXSurvey. This episode features our conversation with Protiviti Managing Directors Christopher Wright and Charles Soranno, who offer a CFO and finance perspective on Protiviti’s 2020 SOX Compliance Survey results. They provide some interesting insights on how the work and focus of compliance programs and activities are changing in the wake of COVID-19.

Wright is the global leader of Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement solution group. Soranno is a leader in the firm’s BPI group and its Financial Reporting Remediation and Compliance practice.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

The world has changed. But SOX work goes on.

Organizations required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act no doubt are experiencing this sentiment firsthand in recent weeks. The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused seismic shifts in companies of all sizes. The impact worldwide has been well-documented and will continue to evolve not only for the remainder of 2020, but certainly in the years to come as organizations transition to the new equilibrium.

It is in this new environment that Protiviti has shared the results of its 2020 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey. Protiviti conducted this year’s SOX Survey in the first quarter of 2020, before the full scope and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was realized. However, since the results largely reflect SOX programs and work performed in fiscal year 2019, the findings remain highly relevant. In addition, trends with regard to the use of automation and technology tools are illuminated even further in this crisis, with offices worldwide closed and a massive percentage of the workforce – likely more than at any time in history – working remotely.

In this episode, Brian Christensen, Executive Vice President, Global Internal Audit for Protiviti, talks about the major findings and takeaways from the latest SOX Survey.

To learn more, visit www.protiviti.com/SOXSurvey to read our report, SOX Compliance Amid a New Business Equilibrium.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

Most discussions concerning the COVID-19 global pandemic aspire to a path leading to some form of normalcy – a “new normal.” That pathway is often framed in terms of phases, with each phase leading to an equilibrium of sorts. In other words, the state of equilibrium will be defined differently with each phase.

No one really knows how this transition is going to work, since there is no playbook for recovery from a pandemic that literally shuts down whole economies. Most likely, a state of equilibrium implies a different experience in which customer and consumer preferences, global supply chains, and the workplace are undeniably altered in ways requiring companies to refine their business models to remain relevant.

Protiviti has published a two-part series on finding equilibrium in uncertain times. In this podcast, Protiviti Managing Directors Dolores Atallo and Jim DeLoach discuss key points from Part 1, “Build on Your Strengths.” Dolores is a leader with Protiviti’s Risk & Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management groups. Jim heads Protiviti’s Global Thought Leadership Program and is a member of the firm’s Global Solutions Leadership group.

To learn more, read Getting There Eventually: Finding Equilibrium in Uncertain Times – Build on Your Strengths, available at www.protiviti.com/bulletin.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

Protiviti has produced a series of podcasts on GRC programs and technologies in which we obtained perspectives from Protiviti leaders and subject-matter experts around the world on GRC drivers, innovations and challenges in their markets.

In this episode, we talked with Ivan Torres, a Director with Protiviti’s Technology Consulting group. Ivan, who is based in Mexico City, offers his views on GRC trends in Mexico and in the organizations he works with.

For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/GRC.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

Protiviti has produced a series of podcasts on GRC programs and technologies in which we obtained perspectives from Protiviti leaders and subject-matter experts around the world on GRC drivers, innovations and challenges in their markets.

In this episode, we talked with Ivan Torres, a Director with Protiviti’s Technology Consulting group. Ivan, who is based in Mexico City, offers his views on GRC trends in Mexico and in the organizations he works with.

For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/GRC.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

We are living in a new world with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Companies are working hard every day to react and respond to it in order to keep their businesses moving forward. Organizations face questions on numerous fronts about customer relationships, supply chains, business continuity, technology needs and much more. But there’s an important aspect of the crisis that companies cannot ignore – the people side of COVID-19. How should companies manage the transition of their organizations and workforces to an environment where their managers and employees may be working remotely on a long-term basis? More importantly, what are the change management implications on corporate culture of transitioning the organization to a distributed workplace?

Kathie Topel is a Director with the Business Performance Improvement solution in Protiviti and an expert in change management. Jim DeLoach is a Managing Director and leader of Protiviti’s Global Thought Leadership Program. They share their insights and best practices on how companies can be resilient and overcome adverse circumstances by focusing on their people during unplanned crises like this.

Learn more by visiting www.protiviti.com/covid-19 and reading the Protiviti paper, The People Side of COVID-19: The Ultimate Test of Operational Resilience?

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

Cybersecurity in Healthcare Organizations

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of medical devices (from infusion pumps to CT scanners) that are connected to networks, either wirelessly or through systems that support them. During the same period, the number of cyberattacks against healthcare organizations has increased. What happens when cyberattackers, maliciously or as a by-product of a separate attack, impact patient safety and privacy by hacking medical devices? Healthcare organizations, as well as medical device manufacturers, can’t wait to find out. They need to act now to evaluate this risk and implement appropriate countermeasures.

In this episode, Christopher Manning, an associate director with Protiviti’s Security and Privacy group based in Atlanta, and Matthew Freilich, a senior manager with Protiviti’s Security and Privacy group based in Philadelphia, discuss potential security issues with medical devices from the perspective of both healthcare providers and device manufacturers. These issues, by extension, can impact all medical device users.

This podcast is part of Protiviti’s series on cybersecurity awareness. Protiviti features a series of webinars on the topic that, along with these podcasts, highlight ways organizations can be proactive in addressing these critical security challenges. We talk to our cybersecurity leaders, who are in the market working with organizations to address these challenges, exploring how organizations can dynamically build cyber resilience while maximizing value.

Visit www.protiviti.com/security to find other podcasts and on-demand webinars in this series.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected]

Journey to the Cloud: Debunking Myths and the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cloud Security

Operational risk and resilience are in the spotlight that continues to grow ever brighter, and one of the many important considerations with regard to resilience is payment systems