The session on Governance, Risk and Compliance described a better approach on risk and compliance programs with a specific discussion on an Enterprise GRC platform that demonstrates a common risk and compliance architecture.

"This platform helps companies take a more programmatic approach to risk management and regulatory compliance and achieve better alignment of risk and performance management objectives, saving money and improving business outcomes," said Lim.

The forum also featured the latest IBM Cognos 10 solutions that can drive innovation into enterprise planning, analysis and profitability modeling process. This session described the latest advances in IBM Business Analytics software, illustrating how companies can establish a more dynamic, reliable planning, analysis and profitability modeling system that connects operational and financial performance to help companies anticipate and act on business opportunities and risk more effectively.

Another session described the capabilities of IBM Cognos BI v10.1, IBM Cognos BI -- Scorecarding, v10.1, IBM Cognos TM1 v9.5 and SPSS Modeler v14.1. This solution enables finance managers to anticipate performance gaps between forecasts, targets and actuals for important financial management, revenue, expense and capital management Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) in an executive dashboard format. Built-in KRIs provide early warning signals of possible weaknesses in key areas of the business.

Attendees of the forum were also given a glimpse of how IBM delivers an integrated financial close management platform that automates -- within a single, unified application -- processes spanning financial consolidations, external reporting, reconciliation management and continuous controls.