Press Release

Archer Technologies Releases Version 4.0 of the Award-Winning Archer SmartSuite Framework

Release allows customers to implement a best-in-class enterprise risk and compliance management program

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., October 29, 2007 – Archer Technologies (Archer), a leading provider of automated enterprise risk and compliance management solutions, today announced the release of the Archer SmartSuite Framework version 4.0. This new release allows Archer clients to take a centralized, automated and proactive approach to assessing risk and validating compliance across the enterprise. Driven entirely by the requirements of Fortune 1000 clients in highly regulated industries, Archer’s enhanced Framework supports the most powerful enterprise risk and compliance management functionality on the market today.

“By listening to our requirements and delivering on our needs, the Archer team has continued to be a trusted business partner,” said Bruce Bonsall, vice president and chief information security officer for MassMutual. “We were one of many clients that Archer worked with to create version 4.0 of the Archer SmartSuite Framework, and we are eager to further enhance our risk and compliance processes using Archer’s new risk management capabilities.”

Archer developed its vision for the Archer SmartSuite Framework 4.0 after interviewing more than 50 clients in Fortune 1000 companies to determine trends and challenges in their risk and compliance management programs. By listening closely to client needs and investing more than 80,000 hours in engineering and quality assurance effort, Archer has delivered the most comprehensive, feature-rich release in the company’s history.

Risk Management Capabilities

With a focus on automated, targeted risk assessment functionality, the Archer SmartSuite Framework 4.0 supports the following:

Assessment Automation – Within minutes, risk managers can build dynamic questionnaires and deliver them online through targeted assessment campaigns. Archer provides a Question Library so clients can easily import Archer question packs or their existing questionnaires for use in future assessment periods. Using Archer’s automated scoring and findings generation features, companies can rapidly determine areas of inherent risk and address issues of non-compliance.

“Ask Once, Answer Many” Approach – Archer’s “ask once, answer many” capabilities allow clients to link a question to multiple authoritative sources and use the answers to that question to show compliance with all pertinent regulations, greatly reducing duplication of effort in the assessment process.

Clear Reporting – Archer provides a rollup view of assessments, remediation tasks and the organization’s inherent and residual risk. Through powerful executive dashboards, clients gain a consolidated view of this information with the ability to drill down for more details with a simple click of the mouse. Organizations can also monitor risk and compliance trends over time.

Total Flexibility – Archer clients have full control over the user interface, workflow processes, question scoring, task management and more. Because Archer does not attempt to impose a specific risk management methodology, clients are free to define their own processes and use the Archer SmartSuite Framework 4.0 to implement them in a consistent, measurable and repeatable manner.

"Highly regulated companies are drowning in a flood of external and internal assessments, audit requests and vendor risk management initiatives. These efforts are time-consuming, costly and often redundant," said Andrew Jaquith, senior analyst with the Yankee Group. "Tools like Archer Risk Management can help enterprises organize and manage their risk assessments in a coherent way, and can impart a global view of their internal and external risk exposures. Archer's latest release sets a high bar for risk and compliance management vendors."

Comprehensive Enterprise Risk and Compliance Management

The new enhancements to the Archer SmartSuite Framework allow Archer to deliver the most flexible, comprehensive and integrated Enterprise Risk and Compliance Management solution set on the market. Archer’s Risk Management capabilities are available to clients who license the Archer Risk, Vendor or Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Management solution, enabling users to build and deliver assessments of any type, including those specific to vendor relationships and Sarbanes-Oxley controls. Because these solutions are tightly integrated with Archer’s Policy, Asset, Threat and Incident Management solutions, clients can:

• Easily link questions to authoritative sources, control standards and corporate policies to measure and report compliance
• Launch online assessment campaigns against business processes, applications, devices and facilities that support the organization’s delivery of products and services
• Prioritize threat and incident management activities for high-risk areas of the business
• Provide their governance board and executive team with a current, holistic view of the organization’s risk and compliance profile to support informed decisions

“As we worked closely with our clients to understand and address their risk management needs, we heard a common request—the ability to ask a question once and use the answer to show compliance with multiple regulations. Our clients also want a platform that allows them to perform any type of assessment within their organization,” said Jon Darbyshire, president and CEO or Archer Technologies. “Rather than imposing a specific risk management methodology on our clients, we allow them to define their own program, and we provide the platform to implement that program in a consistent, measurable and repeatable manner. With version 4.0 of the Archer SmartSuite Framework, we have delivered our most comprehensive release to date, field-tested by Archer’s Fortune 1000 clients in global environments.”

Rapid Application Development

All Archer Enterprise Risk and Compliance Managment solutions are built on version 4.0 of the Archer SmartSuite Framework, empowering clients to easily tailor the solutions to their unique requirements or accelerate the deployment of custom applications to solve business problems. Archer clients have built nearly 800 custom applications on the Archer SmartSuite Framework to automate processes such as project management, issue tracking and business continuity planning. Version 4.0 provides advanced tools for managing tasks, creating powerful executive dashboards, dynamically tailoring the user interface and managing data across multiple business units.

Webcast and Video Demonstrations

• Archer will host a webcast on November 2 at 11 a.m. Central time, featuring a presentation by CEO Jon Darbyshire on Archer’s latest release and corporate vision. Register today.
• A video demonstation of the Archer SmartSuite Framework is available on the Archer web site.

About Archer Technologies

Archer Technologies delivers enterprise governance, risk and compliance (E-GRC) solutions. With more than six million licensed users and a client list that includes one in four of the Fortune 100, Archer enables highly regulated companies to reduce enterprise risks, manage and demonstrate compliance, automate business processes, and gain visibility into corporate risk and security controls.

All Archer solutions are built on the highly flexible Archer SmartSuite Framework, allowing clients to tailor the solutions according to their unique requirements and to build new on-demand applications to expand their E-GRC program. As a result, many of Archer’s clients consider the Framework their go-to platform for rapid application development.

Archer clients maximize their use of the Framework through the Archer Exchange, an online marketplace of applications, services, content and integration solutions, and the Archer Community, an online social network of discussion forums, product ideas, downloads and resources. Through this supporting Archer ecosystem, clients have the tools and services they need to build a best-in-class E-GRC program. For more information, visit www.archer-tech.com.