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Software helps businesses keep track of who's doing what [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 30--After two years working at the world's biggest business software company, and another 13 years running a consulting firm that helps customers install its systems, Dan Wilhelms decided he was ready to market some software of his own.
So in 2009, Wilhelms' Symmetry consulting firm spun out a company to do just that.
SymSoft Corp. sells a program that lets top management know at a glance who's authorized to do what in companies' complex business software systems.
In a world where software systems are running more and more functions and where fraud, theft and system failure are ever-present risks, SymSoft's ControlPanel product is a critical tool, said Wilhelms, 50.
ControlPanel gives management a view they wouldn't otherwise have, as well as the ability to make many processes faster and more efficient, said Chris Crone, information technology director for Pentair Inc.'s residential flow business in Delavan.
For example, when employees transfer to new departments, system administrators can change their computer access clearances within a half hour, Crone said.
Pentair had been using a competitor's software that cost in the neighborhood of $500,000, she said. SymSoft's version costs an average of $100,000 to $200,000, said Kevin Dunne, SymSoft's vice president of sales.
"SymSoft developed a compatible if not better-functioning product at a fraction of the cost," Crone said.
The big competitors in this area -- known as governance, risk and compliance software -- are Approva and SAP Virsa. The biggest business software provider in the world, SAP is the company Wilhelms worked for before starting his consulting firm.
Approva and SAP Virsa's products were developed earlier this decade to help companies deal with requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, which Congress passed in reaction to major corporate accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco and other firms. Companies such as Pentair have found the software has value beyond that original intent, though, Crone said.
"If this system can provide people with cost reductions and process improvements and real-life business benefits, then that's really a value added," said Steve Barth, a partner in Foley & Lardner's Milwaukee office who helps public companies with Sarbanes Oxley compliance.
Housed in a refurbished, 135-year-old building in downtown Milwaukee that used to be a clergy rooming house, SymSoft has 15 employees and 50 clients, including six Fortune 1000 companies, Wilhelms said.
The young company is aiming to sell 60 more software licenses over the next two years, he said.
"Every business owner and CEO loses sleep wondering if they have adequate controls," he said.
ControlPanel generates reports that make SAP's codes understandable and help management quickly make sure each employee has appropriate access to the computer system, said Scott Redlinger, executive director of advisory services in Ernst & Young's Milwaukee office. Redlinger has audited and advised companies about risk and control for 18 years. Such controls are critical, Redlinger said.
For example, ControlPanel will alert management if the SAP system is giving an employee the ability to create both vendor and purchase orders. That kind of power could allow an ill-intentioned employee to redirect the company's purchasing to a new vendor and get benefits for doing so, Redlinger said.
"The more you segregate that process, the less risk you have that someone will do something malicious," he said.
With an increasing customer list, one of Wilhelms' newest problems is deciding whether to try raising outside money that could fuel faster growth. Wilhelms says he's financed the company himself so far, but doesn't rule out other possibilities.
"We will continue to evaluate whether we want to go Hollywood," he said.
To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com.
Copyright (c) 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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