Archer Technologies Gathers Fortune 1000 Companies to Share Best Practices for Governance, Risk and Compliance Management

For large, global enterprises, survey data reveals that data centralization, process automation and adaptability are critical for successful GRC programs

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Nov. 3, 2008 – Archer Technologies (Archer), a provider of enterprise governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions, today announced that the company has wrapped up its fourth annual Regional Summit series, bringing together more than 250 professionals from Fortune 1000 companies to discuss challenges and best practices in risk and compliance management. These meetings revealed industry trends, including the need for data and process centralization and an intense focus on regulatory compliance and risk mitigation in the face of a tumultuous global economy.

“I continue to be impressed by the willingness of Archer clients to share their challenges and successes with one another in order to advance enterprise risk and compliance practices,” said Jim Routh, Archer User Group Chairman and Chief Information Security Officer for the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. “Archer’s Regional Summits bring together some of the most impressive innovators of our time to confront the obstacles we face and to shape the future of GRC programs.”

Hosted by UMB Financial, Ameriprise Financial, eBay and TimeWarner at four locations across the country, Archer’s Regional Summits featured presentations from such companies as Iron Mountain, Royal Ahold, DTCC and KPMG, among others. Key topics of discussion included:

• Global risk management for highly regulated industries, such as financial services, retail, healthcare and insurance
• Business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management as key elements of a best-in-class enterprise GRC program
• A platform approach to risk and compliance management that supports rapid application development to meet evolving business needs
• Integration of enterprise data systems through the Archer Data Feed Manager to support a holistic view of threats, incidents, and key risk and performance indicators

“What we’ve heard from our clients this year is that the old ways of managing risk and compliance as independent initiatives are no longer working, and a new focus on consolidation and integration is achieving prominence,” said Jon Darbyshire, Archer president and CEO. “A flexible, integrated and holistic approach to GRC is a top priority for our clients and was a key theme of our Regional Summits. We expect to see this trend continue as risk and compliance professionals are tasked with providing regulators, executives and the board of directors with a complete view of their activities and results across the enterprise.”

In the midst of a global economic crisis, organizations are ramping up their efforts to manage risk and demonstrate compliance with a rapidly growing body of regulations. A survey of summit attendees from Fortune 1000 companies revealed the following:

• Eighty-two percent cited risk mitigation and regulatory compliance as top priorities for their organization.
• Sixty-five percent indicated that centralizing critical data, automating complex processes, and quickly adapting to new requirements and regulations are the primary focus of their GRC initiatives.
• Only six percent are finished or nearly finished with the implementation of an enterprise risk and compliance program, while 70 percent are midway through or just initiating their efforts.

With Regional Summit attendance up by 60 percent over last year, Archer is anticipating unprecedented participation from client executives and GRC experts at the 2009 National Summit, April 1−3 in Orlando, Fla. Registration is open at http://www.archer-tech.com/events/nationalsummit/index.html.

Additionally, presentations from the Regional Summits are available exclusively to members of the Archer Community, an online social network that supports year-round collaboration among Archer clients, partners and product experts. Learn more at https://community.archer-tech.com/.

About Archer Technologies

Archer Technologies delivers enterprise governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions. With more than six million licensed users and a client list that includes one in four of the Fortune 100, Archer enables companies to manage enterprise risks, demonstrate compliance, automate business processes, and gain visibility into corporate risk and security controls.

Archer’s out-of-the-box solutions, including Policy, Risk, Compliance, Enterprise, Incident, Vendor, Threat, Business Continuity, and Audit Management, are built on the flexible Archer SmartSuite Framework™, allowing clients to tailor the solutions according to their unique requirements. Whether deployed on-premise or via Archer’s SaaS model, the Framework has become a go-to GRC platform for many global organizations.

Archer is the only vendor that delivers the Archer GRC Ecosystem™ comprised of out-of-the-box solutions, a flexible Framework, a robust user community, and an application and partner exchange, which provides clients the tools they need to build a best-in-class enterprise GRC program. For more information, visit www.archer.com or call 1-888-539-EGRC.