Thanks to Sarbanes-Oxley's new Auditing Standard 5 (AS5), which fosters a top-down, risk-based approach to compliance, enterprise risk management (ERM) solutions are likely to see a surge in interest in coming months. By providing insights into the multiple risks a company faces, ERM technology enables top management to dig through the morass of organizational layers to gain a holistic view of risk. The technology is all about "gaining more of an enterprise perspective on risk versus a siloed approach," says Lee Dittmar, a principal at Deloitte Consulting. As a result, "By saying that top down is better than bottom up, AS5 has provided a shot in the arm for ERM," says Steve Minsky, CEO at LogicManager, a provider of ERM software.

While ERM implementations vary widely across companies and industries, there's consensus that an ERM system must incorporate real-time visibility and analytics about all categories of risk, enabling the management of operational and compliance risks and controls across lines of business, legal entities and processes. It should follow a COSO-based ERM framework that supports Sarbanes-Oxley and other compliance initiatives. It should also provide a means for tracking losses, plus automated alerts that notify management when risks exceed company-specific thresholds. The latest versions offer personalized dashboards with drill-down capabilities.