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38 Enterprise Data Governance

The second factor concerns the business directly: any
regulatory constraints can weigh on an IT system. In a tense
economic context, these constraints are more numerous, ever
changing, less predictable and more strategic for a company.
It could be said that business regulations have forced
Information Systems and IT systems against the wall.

2.1.1. Forced against the wall by regulations

Directors worry about regulations because of their
obligatory nature. They do not have a choice and have to
respect them all: Sarbanes Oxley, Basel 2, MIF, Solvency II
and others relative to fiscal archiving or to sustainable
development, the food industry and pharmaceuticals.
Regulations are the rules of the economic game, as imposed
by a country’s legislature. Not respecting them, within
imposed time limits, will lead to penalties for a company,
and could even put its capacity to act on the markets in
jeopardy. This aspect greatly affects a company’s
shareholders and their representatives, i.e. the board of
directors. This is a true matter of corporate governance.

Today, the valuation of companies operates more and
more through rating systems linked to regulations. A good
rate and shares climb; a bad rate and shares plummet. The
link between rating systems and IT systems is immediate.
These regulations require a high level of operation
traceability. A company must be able, just as for
merchandise in the food industry, to track the information
flow precisely, keeping a record of any data that contributed
to the calculation of financial and social accounts. When
rating agencies value a company, they must have tangible
elements at hand that guarantee the truth surrounding the
accounts and the respect of regulations.

The more opaque an IT system is, the less information the
rating agency has. The existence of software under the sole