Archive for September, 2011

A Directors’ Brief on ISO27001 Information Security Management

September 21st, 2011

It’s generally accepted that details are the best asset any organisation has under its control. Managing Directors are aware that the provision of complete and accurate details are vital towards the survival of the organisations.

Today increasingly more organisations are realising that information security is really a critical business function. It is not only an IT function but covers:

Governance;
Risk Management;
Physical Security;
Business Continuity;
Regulatory and Legislative Compliance.

Information Security
Business has been transformed by the use of IT systems, indeed it is central to delivering business efficiently. The use of bespoke packages, databases and email have allowed businesses to develop while encouraging remote communication and innovation.

Most businesses rely heavily on IT but information extends well beyond computer systems. It encompasses knowledge retained by people, paper documents in addition to traditional records held in a number of media. A common mistake when incorporating an information security system is to ignore these elements and concentrate only on the IT issues.

Information security is really a whole organisation matter and crosses departmental boundaries. It’s not only keeping a small amount of information secret; your very success has become more based mostly on the supply and integrity of information to make sure smooth operation and improved competitiveness.

C I A

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability

These are the three requirements for just about any ISMS.

Managing Directors’ Perspective
Your vision is central to organisational development; driving improvements in most regions of the company to create value. With information technology being answer to a lot of change programmes, effective information security management systems are a prerequisite to ensuring that systems deliver on the business objectives. Your leadership might help produce the appropriate security culture to protect your company.

Organisations are getting asked questions regarding ISO 27001, particularly by national or municipality, professional and the financial sector. This really is being driven by adoption from the standard as part of their legal and regulatory obligations. In certain areas this really is being a tender requirement.

Other medication is visiting a competitive advantage in leading their sector and taking advantage of certification in information security management to build up customer/ client confidence and win new business. With public concern over security issues at an in history high, there’s a real have to build effective marketing mechanisms to exhibit how your business can be trusted.

You will easily be conscious of your responsibilities for effective governance, and be answerable for damaging incidents that can affect organisational value. The risk assessment, the first step toward the standard is designed to provide you with a clear picture of where your risks are and to facilitate effective decision making. This means risk management, not simply risk reduction and therefore replaces the sensation many directors have of risk ignorance in this region. This will help you comprehend the potential risks associated with the deployment from the latest information technologies and will allow you to balance the possibility downside using the more obvious benefits.

Whether, included in compliance, such as required by Professional Bodies, Sarbanes Oxley, Data Protection Act, or included in a highly effective governance, information security is a key element of operational risk management. It enables the formulation of effective risk analysis and measurement, combined with transparent reporting of ongoing security incidents to refine risk decisions.

Giving values towards the impact security incidents might have on your clients are vital. Analysis of where you are vulnerable allows you to measure the probability that you will be hit by security incidents with direct financial consequences.

An added advantage of the danger assessment process is it gives you a thorough analysis of your information assets, how they can be influenced by attacks on the confidentiality, integrity and availability, and a measure of their real value for your business.

Although the detail inside the risk assessment process can be complex, it is also possible to translate this into clear priorities and risk profiles that the Board can make sense of, resulting in more effective financial decision making.

SAP Modules

September 21st, 2011

The SAP FI (Financial Accounting) Module has got the competence of meeting all the accounting and financial needs of the organization. Along with other managers, Financial Managers within your business and same module can review the budget from the company in real time as contrasted to legacy systems which necessitate overnight updates before financial statements frequently and may be generated for management review. The real-time functionality from the SAP modules enables better making decisions and strategic planning. The FI Module incorporates along with other SAP Modules such as MM (Materials Management), PP (Production Planning), SD (Sales and Distribution), PM (Plant Maintenance), and PS (Project Systems). The FI Module also assimilates with HR (Recruiting) that includes PM (Personnel Management), Personal time management, Travel Management, Payroll. Document transactions occurring within the precise modules generate account postings by means of account determination tables.

The SAP CO (Controlling) Module endow with supporting information to Management with regards to planning, reporting, in addition to monitoring the operations of their business. Management decision-making can be achieved using the level of information supplied by this module. The Cost Element Accounting component provides information including both costs and revenue for a corporation. These postings are updated automatically from FI to CO. The cost elements would be the foundation for cost accounting and facilitate the consumer a chance to display costs for every of the accounts that have been allotted to the price element. Cost Center Accounting provides info on the costs suffered by your business. You have the capability to assign Cost Centers to departments and managers responsible for certain regions of the company in addition to functional areas within the SAP. Cost Centers can be created for such functional areas as Marketing, Purchasing, Recruiting, Finance, Facilities, Information Systems, Administrative Support, Legal, Shipping/Receiving, as well as Quality.

A few of the benefits of Cost Center Accounting:

(1) Managers can set Budget/Cost Center targets

(2) Cost Center visibility of functional regions of your company

(3) Planning

(4) Accessibility to Cost allocation methods and

(5) Assessments of costs to other cost objects.

Internal Orders give a means of tracking costs of the specific job, service, or task. Internal Orders are utilized like a approach to gathering those costs and business transactions which are linked to the task. This degree of monitoring can be very detailed but allows management the ability to review Internal Order activity. Activity-Based Costing authorize a much better meaning of the source of costs towards the process driving the cost and it also enhances Cost Center Accounting which allows for a process-oriented and cross-functional look at your cost centers. Product Cost Controlling allows management the capability to look at their product costs and also to make decisions on the optimal price to market their products. The methods which may be utilized for EC-PCA (Profit Center Accounting) are period accounting or through the cost-of-sales approach. Profit Centers could be set-up to identify products, divisions, geographical regions, offices, production sites or by functions. Profit Centers can be used for Internal Control purposes enabling management the ability to review regions of responsibility inside their organization.