September 9, 2009
Greetings, loyal Archer Blog readers! My name is Jason Rohlf, and I am honored to submit my first post to the Archer Blog, which is one of the many responsibilities I have assumed as the new Finance GRC Product Manager for Archer Technologies. Now I realize you may be thinking, “This poor guy has to write for a living!” Quite the contrary―I am one of those strange beings who actually enjoys putting pen to paper (or in this case, fingers to keyboard) to explore industry trends and opportunities for risk and compliance professionals.
As Finance GRC Product Manager, I will have ownership of our Compliance Management and Audit Management solutions. This means staying on top of emerging issues facing the profession and the marketplace and tapping into my 12-plus years of internal audit and SOX experience to leverage the lessons I’ve learned for the benefit of Archer’s customers. I’ll also be cultivating professional relationships within the Archer Community and with industry experts I’ve worked with throughout my career to request a healthy dose of feedback on our current solution offerings and product roadmap. The bottom line is that my job is to deliver relevant, user-friendly solutions that enable users to add real value to their organizations.
Why did I choose to leave the glamorous life of an internal audit professional to join Archer? There are many reasons, not least of which was the energy and excitement I felt the moment I walked into Archer’s offices. Great first impressions aside, I was further intrigued by the product itself. To me, the concept of the Archer SmartSuite Framework serving as a central platform for enterprise GRC process automation, integration and management was at once straightforward and extraordinary. I began to imagine the possibilities that Archer’s Framework presents to clients, and the appeal of working for an innovative, energetic company with a simple-yet-powerful solution was just too much for me to resist.
A more important question for the readers of this Blog is this: Why did Archer choose me for this role? I believe that my professional experience was the key factor. Aside from my 12-plus years of internal audit and SOX compliance experience, I also hold the Certified Internal Audit and Certification in Control Self-Assessment designations, and at this moment, I am awaiting the results of my submission for the ACL Certified Data Analyst designation (which will empower me to more effectively channel my inner “data nerd” for your collective benefit). I truly enjoy building and maintaining professional relationships, many of which have developed into long-lasting friendships. Finally, I have a strong desire to learn new things and continuously improve myself—traits that play well at a company like Archer.
I am extremely excited about what the future holds for me at Archer. I will be attending several of the upcoming GRC Roadshow stops, including the event this Thursday in Kansas City, and I hope to have an opportunity to meet many of you there. More importantly, I look forward to working with great people from the organizations we serve and establishing new professional relationships (and hopefully building a few more friendships along the way).
Please watch this Blog in the future for more thoughts, perspectives and ramblings from yours truly. I look forward to reading your ideas and reactions to my posts.