PwC: Businesses wanted automated risk controls but should be wary

Many businesses likely want more more automated controls when it comes to risk management -- especially during the initial phase of their SAP software deployments to reduce the need of adding them in after the fact, based on a new survey.

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Published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the survey focused on how risk management and controls are integrated into the project effort and what are the lessons from the impact of those integrations.

PwC reps said that the professional services firm strictly produced this survey to see what is happening within the marketplace and to see how organizations and C-suite executives view SAP systems.
PwC argued that with an increased focused on risk management, that puts more pressure on businesses to effectively manage change while leveraging new technologies to deliver the necessary amount of control.
Thus, PwC asserted that any companies planning on implementing or upgrading their SAP systems need to understand the number of risks and challenges that may occur during this transition as they are often large and complex projects that come with a high amount of visibility and stakes for the organization.
Here's a glance at the highlights from the PwC report:

• 66 percent of the most recent SAP projects were an implementation and 33 percent involved a technical upgrade
• 66 percent of them reported having a controls integration workstream as part of their most recent SAP software implementation or technical upgrade
• 67 percent of SAP software users surveyed believe that their investment in SAP resulted in an improvement in their overall control environment
• 58 percent of SAP users reported that their company had not seen a savings in its controls and compliance efforts due to the SAP project; 39 percent of them have seen savings

For reference, PwC conducted the SAP controls study via email and the web in 2012. The survey generated 88 responses, of which 83 were from SAP users.