Continuous controls monitoring is fast becoming a critical component of any financial controls program, and in some cases is seen as relevant beyond Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Auditors are impressed by it, and directors feel more comfortable with it. The concept has certainly given rise to a distinct cottage industry, which encompasses software makers like ACL, Oversight, Approva and others.

In fact, Oversight just inked another round of venture financing, to the tune of $4.1 million, which speaks to rising demand for its products. ACL just kicked of its Business Assurance workshops. The idea is to monitor all transaction at the IT level in something close to real-time, generating analytics that can provide essential warnings.

The big boys of the industry are bent on upgrading their functionality. For example, Oracle recently announced the latest release of its Oracle GRC Controls, part of Oracle Fusion Governance, Risk, and Compliance. Oracle GRC Controls 8.6 is touted as a way to lower compliance costs, improve governance and enhance operational performance by continuously monitoring automated controls for Oracle and non-Oracle enterprise applications.

Earlier this year, AMR Research named continuous controls monitoring one of the top GRC software investments companies will make in 2010, ranking just behind compliance management software and BPM software.

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