Companies Will Spend $15.5B on Compliance in 2005 BOSTON – March 14, 2005 – Today, AMR Research released a study that predicts the cost of compliance over the next five years will reach the $80 billion mark. Specifically, the firm estimates that organizations will spend close to $15.5 billion on compliance-related activities in 2005. Though an average company will spend approximately $500,000, leading businesses are using these mandates as an opportunity to identify and transform business areas that need improvement. “Compliance is an all-encompassing set of activities that cross business and IT groups,” said John Hagerty, vice president of research at AMR Research. “Companies that see the big picture will put these mandates to work for them and use them as a catalyst to improve or even rethink many parts of their organizations.” Compliance is forcing businesses to look at what contributes to financial success, not just how to report financial performance. Through compliance mandates, companies are streamlining processes and reducing exposure to financial risk. In order to ensure efficient operations, businesses are moving towards a more structured compliance initiative. “In 2005, over 80% of companies expect to have an executive-level compliance officer,” said Hagerty. “Centralization of compliance issues under an executive will unify an approach to compliance.” Companies are also rethinking how to fund compliance. The study found that in 2004, 35% of companies had a specific budget for compliance initiatives, but almost two-thirds had to pull from other areas to fund these projects. In 2005, more companies (40%) will have a specific budget for compliance. Although technology spending is a major part of compliance investment, ranging from 28% of overall SOX spending to 42% of overall HIPAA spending, investment on internal staff is the largest budget item in compliance. SOX remains the most expensive initiative, accounting for 39% of all compliance spending. 
The study, Spending in an Age of Compliance, 2005, is based on a survey of over 225 business and IT leaders on their compliance spending priorities. For more information, please visit www.amrresearch.com. About AMR Research:
AMR Research provides world class research and actionable advice for executives tasked with delivering enhanced business process performance and cost savings with the aid of technology. 5,000 leaders in the Global 1000 put their trust in AMR Research’s integrity, depth of industry expertise, and passion for customer service to support their most critical business initiatives, including supply chain transformation; new product introduction, customer profitability, compliance and governance, and IT benefit realization. More information is available at www.amrresearch.com.
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