In today’s age, the web portal is usually the most comprehensive promotional material that a consumer encounters. For this reason, companies should ensure rigorous and regular website maintenance.
The website may need a tweaking here and there, from time to time. But when is a major overhaul necessary? Check out the list below:
No one visits anymore! This would rank as the most important reason to re-do your website altogether. You should be worried if traffic has drastically diminished, as it raises serious flags about its overall usability and visual appeal. Perhaps the template it was based on looks very crowded. Or the content is no longer interesting.
Features are no longer being used. Features vary from company to company. Perhaps there’s a video that flashes to welcome each new page visitor. Or a button of social media platforms that users can click to share. Or boxes that elicit data. When the website becomes defined by these unused features, maybe you need a redesign.
Security has been compromised. Does your website also serve as a selling platform for your company? And was it hacked? Your customer’s information stored on the servers might have been compromised. You do not want any lawsuits arising from a customer’s credit card info being leaked. Discuss with a web development the damage, and whether it is actually safe to simply migrate anything from it to a new site.
It takes a long time to load. Today’s web users have a very narrow attention span. If your pages don’t load immediately – perhaps because there is too much information on it – perhaps the visitor may not even be able to digest all of it. Worse, they will leave the page and look for another provider of the products and services they are looking for. This is especially important if they are checking the website using their smartphones. Web content should then be short enough for them to be reader-friendly whichever device they are being viewed from.
The company is re-branding. A website is a major branding tool. So if the company is planning to re-brand, its web portal should follow. Does it want to adopt a minimalist look? Or cater to a younger market, perhaps? Or enter Asia? All these should reflect in the new design as well as the content.
For your web portal’s optimum performance and contribution towards your marketing goals, enlist the services of a website maintenance company. Talk to your website redesign/overhaul ideas, and let them walk you through it.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Aspects to Consider in Choosing SOX Compliance Software
When the U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a legislation that aims to protect shareholders and the general public from fraudulent practices and accounting errors in the enterprise, SOX compliance software solutions started to flood the IT world.
While administrators don’t have any choice to but to comply with this Act, they still have the freedom to choose which among today’s available solutions can truly address their needs and support their organizational framework. The bidding process can be a challenging and lengthy experience both for the IT provider and the client, but with a deeper understanding of what the SOX act is all about, both parties can streamline their objectives and requirements.
Here are some of the major aspects that need to be considered:
The nature of the Act. The SOX Act was passed in response to several corporate scandals that involved skewed reporting of selected financial transactions.
“For instance, companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco covered up or misrepresented a variety of questionable transactions, resulting in huge losses to stakeholders and a crisis in investor confidence,” SOX-online reports.
According to TechTarget Network, there are 11 titles to the act, which describe financial reporting requirements that organizations must comply with. These include new standards for corporate accountability, along with penalties for acts of unlawful activity.
Through these policies and regulations, the organizational framework of a firm is expected to become more solid and responsive – corporate boards and executives must maintain transparent communication, like how CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs must work in harmony as they hold the accountability for the accuracy of financial statements.
Who should comply with the Act. Contrary to the notion that the SOX Act only applies to US-based companies, independent nonprofit global association ISACA highlights, “No, there are potential international implications as well. In fact, among the many factors that must be considered in complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, some will uniquely impact international organizations.”
Companies outside the US territory are required to examine their IT operations and identify if they are significant to the organization as a whole. “The assessment of whether an IT business unit is significant can be impacted by the materiality of transactions processed by the IT business unit, the potential impact on financial reporting if an IT business unit fails and other qualitative risk factors,” explains ISACA.
SOX audits. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was written to avert scams and frauds, one must expect SOX audits to be more demanding. In fact, the Act requires all financial reports to include an internal control report. “This is designed to show that not only are the company's financial data accurate, but the company has confidence in them because adequate controls are in place to safeguard financial data,” says SOX-online. There are also year-end financial disclosure reports, where a SOX auditor is required to review controls, policies and procedures during a Section 404 audit.
To have a comprehensive view of data, accomplish accurate reports, and constantly meet SOX requirements, look for a SOX compliance software solution that can perform document management, risk analysis, risk management, business intelligence and inventory management functionalities. This can lower your operational costs, while speeding up the meticulous process of financial reporting.
While administrators don’t have any choice to but to comply with this Act, they still have the freedom to choose which among today’s available solutions can truly address their needs and support their organizational framework. The bidding process can be a challenging and lengthy experience both for the IT provider and the client, but with a deeper understanding of what the SOX act is all about, both parties can streamline their objectives and requirements.
Here are some of the major aspects that need to be considered:
The nature of the Act. The SOX Act was passed in response to several corporate scandals that involved skewed reporting of selected financial transactions.
“For instance, companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco covered up or misrepresented a variety of questionable transactions, resulting in huge losses to stakeholders and a crisis in investor confidence,” SOX-online reports.
According to TechTarget Network, there are 11 titles to the act, which describe financial reporting requirements that organizations must comply with. These include new standards for corporate accountability, along with penalties for acts of unlawful activity.
Through these policies and regulations, the organizational framework of a firm is expected to become more solid and responsive – corporate boards and executives must maintain transparent communication, like how CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs must work in harmony as they hold the accountability for the accuracy of financial statements.
Who should comply with the Act. Contrary to the notion that the SOX Act only applies to US-based companies, independent nonprofit global association ISACA highlights, “No, there are potential international implications as well. In fact, among the many factors that must be considered in complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, some will uniquely impact international organizations.”
Companies outside the US territory are required to examine their IT operations and identify if they are significant to the organization as a whole. “The assessment of whether an IT business unit is significant can be impacted by the materiality of transactions processed by the IT business unit, the potential impact on financial reporting if an IT business unit fails and other qualitative risk factors,” explains ISACA.
SOX audits. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was written to avert scams and frauds, one must expect SOX audits to be more demanding. In fact, the Act requires all financial reports to include an internal control report. “This is designed to show that not only are the company's financial data accurate, but the company has confidence in them because adequate controls are in place to safeguard financial data,” says SOX-online. There are also year-end financial disclosure reports, where a SOX auditor is required to review controls, policies and procedures during a Section 404 audit.
To have a comprehensive view of data, accomplish accurate reports, and constantly meet SOX requirements, look for a SOX compliance software solution that can perform document management, risk analysis, risk management, business intelligence and inventory management functionalities. This can lower your operational costs, while speeding up the meticulous process of financial reporting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)