New Year, New Risks, New Opportunities

2008 is upon us and now we must determine how to use the next 366 days (yes, it’s a LeapYear) wisely. Generally, a first step in creating a sensible business plan is to assess your risks and then develop a plan to avoid or mitigate those risks. This can sometimes be a very difficult task as the world seems to be a very risky place. Of course, risk also presents opportunities for enterprise resellers and vendors to assist their clients in dealing with these situations.

Take, for example, regulatory issues like Sarbanes-Oxley or HIPAA. As Howard Lubert of DirectorForce (http://www.directorforce.com) advises, “The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 [SOX] is very explicit in outlining corporate responsibilities in the new era of transparency. We are discovering that even privately held companies, under certain circumstances, are also finding themselves liable to particular issues raised under SOX. Most importantly, it has long been our opinion and it is now becoming the opinion of many legal and financial experts as well, that no company can attempt to execute all of the compliance requirements internally and still be in compliance of the act.”

Realizing the opportunity presented by SOX, Lubert launched DirectorForce, an on-demand, hosted, totally secure communication, collaboration, and file management portal designed specifically for boards of directors of public, private and not-for-profit organizations who want to take a pro-active position on managing their company’s affairs. The DirectorForce suite, when fully utilized, becomes a risk management tool that reduces company and board exposure to related litigation events.

The healthcare industry certainly experiences risk via HIPAA but also has other major concerns including the safety of patients and staff. IgeaCare Systems, Inc, of Canada (http://www.igeacare.com) develops and manufactures state-of-the-art telephony-based systems focusing on the healthcare sector. The technology also provides emergency response notification solutions for public safety in healthcare, education and government sectors. The solution connects staff, attendants, maintenance and administration with each other in real time. Their recently-announced U.S. subsidiary will be headquartered in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona. They will be exhibiting at ITEXPO East 2008 January 23-25, 2008, as part of the DPCF Pavilion so stop by to learn more. IT

Mary Bradshaw is the Executive Director of the Bradshaw Group. Contact her at mary_bradshaw@comcast.net, Tel: (202) 342-0850.

Max Schroeder is a board member of the ECA, Media Relations Committee Chairman, and liaison to TMC. He is also the Sr. Vice President of FaxCore, Inc. (http://www.faxcore.com) another company that will be in the DPCF Pavilion.

» Internet Telephony Magazine Table of Contents