SAS 70, an internationally recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, lets services organizations disclose control activities and processes in a uniform format to customers fulfilling the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. After an extensive audit review of the centers by an independent accounting firm, Xerox Global Services was provided an audit opinion that said its description of controls for information technology and related process objectives were suitably designed and implemented.

"Given the critical nature of the business processes we've outsourced to Xerox, the SAS 70 audit gave us further comfort that our business was in the hands of professionals who take security and the safeguarding of information very seriously," said Gene Roth, corporate purchasing and supplier diversity manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Some of the key objectives verified by the independent firm provide reasonable assurances that:

• The privacy of each client's data is maintained by Xerox Global Services.
  
• Information received from customers is processed quickly, accurately and completely.
  
• System and customer data integrity can be restored if necessary.
  
• A process has been established to identify, track and monitor security-related events.

"The implications for outsourcers are significant given that such regulations are just as applicable and more complex to apply against outsourced business processes," said John Van Decker, vice president, META Group, a research, advisory and consulting firm. "We have been advising our clients to place requirements on their outsourcing vendors to provide adequate certification that they can support compliance mandates on their behalf."

Xerox Global Services helps organizations streamline and digitize document processes such as invoices, policies and procedures, billing, training, and records management. Xerox consultants work closely with companies to identify, quantify and realize opportunities to save money, find new sources of value, mitigate risks, and simplify how work gets done.