VARs PROSPER BY PROVIDING COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS TO VERTICALS

Headnote

TOOLS AND POLICIES

When federal lawmakers passed regulations such as the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA in recent years, they set out to protect privacy and increase accountability among enterprises that store critical data.

Along the way, they helped create a brand-new market for solution providers.

Today, technologies that facilitate compliance with federal regulations, particularly in the health-care and financial-services industries, are among the top sellers for solution providers.

"We can't provide these [compliance] solutions to customers quickly enough," said Ed Smith, director of security solutions at Forsythe Technology, Skokie, Ill. "Enterprises are struggling to keep up with this stuff, and when they need help, our business booms."

Projections indicate that public companies are expected to spend $6 billion in 2005 to become compliant with various regulations, according to AMR Research.

Solution providers said they...