Companies overwhelmed by compliance requirements could find support from a new SAP business unit that aims to provide a holistic software approach to a fragmented process.The Governance, Risk and Compliance Management (GRC) business unit, announced Tuesday at the Sapphire customer event in Orlando, Fla., will leverage SAP’s existing software and help develop new technology to help companies meet a growing list of compliance requirements, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Food and Drug Administration regulations for pharmaceutical companies, and Basel II for the banking sector.The move comes as companies attempt to manage more and increasingly complex compliance regulations, which often cross industry sectors. Especially for those companies with highly fragmented business processes and systems, the costs of managing their compliance requirements can add up quickly.Until now, compliance has been handled separately by SAP’s various business and product units, according to spokesman Bill Wohl. That will change with the new GRC unit, which is being established as a core competency center for compliance issues across product and industry sectors, he said. The unit will benefit from SAP’s recent acquisition of Virsa Systems, whose compliance software helps companies monitor and enforce business controls in real-time across their enterprise and legacy systems. Prior to the acquisition, the two companies already had a close relationship: SAP resold Virsa’s Compliance Calibrator as an add-on to its mySAP ERP software. Additionally, SAP Ventures, the company’s venture capital arm, was an investor in Virsa. SAP has yet to appoint a director of the new unit and decide on a location, but the competency center will be part of the product and technology group headed by executive board member Shai Agassi, according to Wohl. Sapphire runs through Thursday.-John Blau, IDG News ServiceFor related news coverage, read SAP Broadens Customer Base at Sapphire and SAP Stresses Master-Data Management.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content BrandPost Stay in Control of Your Data with a Secure and Compliant Sovereign Cloud By Stan Kwong Mar 23, 2023 6 mins Cloud Security Cloud Computing News Accenture to lay off 19,000 to cut costs amid economic uncertainty Technology services giant Accenture will continue to hire but meanwhile is cutting staff to streamline operations in the face of economic headwinds. By Anirban Ghoshal Mar 23, 2023 2 mins IT Consulting Services Technology Industry BrandPost Advice from procurement: How to evaluate and propose new IT investments By clearly defining needs and requirements, evaluating TCO, and performing risk assessments, procurement and IT teams can work together to help their business leaders make more informed decisions for an improved bottom line. By Bo Bradshaw, Edgio Procurement Director Mar 23, 2023 5 mins SaaS BrandPost Why AI is key to hiring and retaining developers Data shows that the opportunity to build AI-powered apps figures very prominently in where developers decide to work. By Bryan Kirschner, Vice President, Strategy at DataStax Mar 23, 2023 4 mins Artificial Intelligence IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe