Forty-five percent of supply-chain professionals stated that their companies outsource regulatory compliance needs, according to a recent survey conducted by BDP International and its survey branch Centrx.

An increasing number of industries now require their company information to meet certain environmental standards, and organizations with fewer than $1 billion in annual revenue believe it is cost-effective to shift their regulatory compliance to a company using cloud computing. Companies with more than $1 billion revenue often employ in-house teams to audit the information, the survey revealed.

"It was not surprising to find that the larger companies with more resources were more inclined to handle compliance matters themselves, particularly on their home turf," BDP vice president of regulatory compliance Michael Ford said. "What is notable, however, is the degree to which they all recognize the need to proactively manage the function to minimize often highly punitive penalties and maintain desk-level productivity."

Larger companies also indicated that desktop security measures taken by cloud computing companies are another reason for their hesitance to outsource their compliance operations. RSA president Art Coviello stated at last week's RSA Conference that the entire cloud computing industry must address security issues to ensure the industry advances properly.ADNFCR-2553-ID-19657099-ADNFCR