WRAL Tech Wire

The Price of Doing Business: Everyone needs to understand compliance

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WRAL Local Tech Wire’s first Exchange event for 2009 was well attended on Thursday as more than 100 executives gathered at the American Tobacco District to explore the importance of HIPAA, PCI regulations and SAS 70.

The event featured an expert panel discussion moderated by Susan Kellogg, CIO and associate dean of information technology at UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Other keynote panelists included Tony Verdone, vice president of development and operations at MediClick; Brian Baker, vice president of sales at Hosted Solutions; and Harry Reynolds, vice president and information compliance officer at BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina.

Look for interviews and a video of the discussion coming soon.

Tony Verdone of MediClick discussed SAS 70, Statement on Auditing Standard 70, and how the extremely thorough audit is very helpful in today’s marketplace by showing transparency to the businesses that a service organization works with. Added Verdone, “the real key is awareness within the company.”

Brian Baker from Hosted Solutions also had some thoughts on SAS70 standards.

“In eight years of business we found that we couldn’t get new clients without being SAS 70 compliant. We went through it about four years ago and it shows our clients that we maintain high standards with those we do business with,” said Baker. “The biggest unexpected benefit was that it forced us to be a better service provider by having better controls. Also, we now know what we need to do to be secure. This has provided a better overall customer experience for our customers.”

Harry Reynolds of BCBSNC has 30 years of experience in the technology and health care areas and shared his thoughts about HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Added Reynolds, “We (BCBSNC) have been protecting peoples health and data since 1933. HIPAA came out as a structure for everyone to speak the same language. It’s a good structure, but we were doing it all along.”

The RTP event was sponsored by Abacus Solutions, Business Vitals, Hosted Solutions, InCentric Solutions, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Scale Finance and Xiotech.  LTW also partners with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA), Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), and BIG Council to connect their membership at these events.

Due to overwhelming response to this initial event, we have added a second date in Charlotte on Feb. 18.

Once again, the event will run 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at Byron’s South End, and will feature an expert panel discussion moderated by Dan Manley, senior manager at KPMG Information Technology Advisory Services. Additional panelists include Patty Brandow, senior director of internal control compliance at Time Warner Cable; Keith Haskett, vice president of operations with ATTUS Technologies, Inc.; and Gideon Rasmussen, vice president of merchant PCI compliance at Bank of America.