As AltaGas moves forward with multiple software projects this year, the realization that how we design and implement software solutions have dramatically changed as a result of SOX compliance. Questions in areas like;

• All changes occur in accordance with Corporate Change Management Procedures
• All change requests should be documented, tested, approved by application owner, impact to other applications assessed, and security controls re-validated prior to moving test environment into production

• Access to application by interface
• Authority to run interface
• Approval of transactions before or after interface completed
• Processing of information is validated
• Error reporting ? job failed
• Output is validated to source originals
• Audit trails and history

All of these play a part in deciding how software is designed, implemented and sustained form part of my discussion.