REDMOND, Wash. — July 12, 2005 —Microsoft Corp. today announced that GMAC Commercial Mortgage (GMACCM) has developed a comprehensive risk-management solution using Microsoft® technologies.
Facing the need to track more 1,000 business controls and manage thousands of documents for compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), GMACCM knew it would need more than spreadsheets and file shares. The complexity of its compliance requirements, including SOX, Basel II and other global banking requirements, required that the company develop a solution that would provide a more sustainable, long-term approach to risk management.
The solution, Risk Management Compass (RMC), gives the company a comprehensive and robust tool for mapping, assessing, managing and reporting on risk categories. RMC’s rich functionality has helped the company reduce the cost of SOX compliance by up to 50 percent. RMC has enabled GMACCM to enjoy improved visibility into its risk and controls environment. The solution also has increased overall business ownership and accountability by providing the following:
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A framework for breaking down business processes into activities, associating risks to those activities, documenting the controls that mitigate the risks, and capturing evidence that the controls are in place
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Support for monitoring several GMACCM risk categories, including credit, market, liquidity and operations
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Visibility across business processes and at organizational levels, including real-time reporting and built-in workflows for exceptional resolution
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Support for global collaboration by team members in different locations, including the capability for GMACCM business users to work together with the company’s external auditors
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Rapid and cost-effective implementation, including integration with other business systems
Initially developed in four months by GMACCM Technology Europe Ltd. (GTEL), RMC was built using the Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2003 development system and runs on the Microsoft .NET Framework.
Microsoft products and technologies used in building RMC includes Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 — the operating system foundation of Windows Server System™ integrated server software — and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000, which also is part of Windows Server System. Desktop software used with RMC includes the Microsoft Windows® XP Professional operating system, Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office Visio® Professional 2003 drawing and diagramming software for documenting processes.
“Microsoft technologies gave us the tools to have a competitive advantage by enabling more efficient processes translating into lower costs and a new source of revenue for the company,” said Larry Dunn, chief operations risk officer for GMACCM. “The Microsoft .NET Framework allowed us to build a very flexible and scalable solution in a short amount of time.”
Other clients of GMACCM are experiencing real business value through RMC as their chosen solution for enterprise risk management. GTEL now brings this solution to market through its expanding network of direct and indirect sales channels in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
“GMACCM’s RMC solution is an excellent example of how financial institutions are fundamentally changing their operations experience by developing or acquiring solutions built on Microsoft technologies,” said Bill Hartnett, managing director of the Financial Services Group at Microsoft. “The RMC solution comes at a time when the financial services industry is demanding solutions that reduce costs and ease the complexity of compliance, not just of SOX but of all the regulations put forth recently. Not only does RMC improve the operation’s experience, it also helps reduce training costs and is easy to use from an employee standpoint. When financial institutions are dealing with complex regulations, ease of use is critical.”
About GMAC Technology Europe Ltd.
GTEL is a wholly owned subsidiary of GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. with product sales and support available in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company has extensive experience in developing software solutions for the financial services sector globally and has an experienced team of Microsoft .NET architects and developers with expertise in product development, in professional services (implementation, training and support) and in technical network and hosting services. Information about Risk Management Compass and other details about GTEL products and services are available at www.clonmore.net/gtel.
About GMAC Commercial Mortgage
GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. is a premier financial services firm with extensive funding sources that, coupled with a broad menu of innovative financing programs, serve the needs of borrowers of commercial real estate debt as well as the providers of such capital. Through its affiliates and subsidiaries, GMACCH is an industry leader in loan origination, servicing, asset management, investment management and technology services. The diverse lending and servicing specialist and its affiliates have more than 100 offices worldwide, and provide a variety of financing products and services including permanent, interim, mezzanine and construction lending as well as equity capital for commercial real estate. GMACCH has specialized lending units focused on healthcare, hospitality and construction lending. News releases and other information about GMACCH, its products and services are available at www.gmaccm.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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