Govt. Regulations Good for This Business

Image via CrunchBaseAutonomy, a U.K.-based enterprise search firm that specializes in e-discovery, had a particularly good fourth quarter, according to the Financial Times.

Revenues for the year to December 31 rose 47 per cent to $503m (£366m), while pre-tax profit doubled to $185m. Basic earnings per share doubled to $0.61 and cash balances at the end of the year rose from $92.6m to $199m.

For all the railing about how Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory demands are a drain on corporate resources, it looks like they can be a boon if you're positioned to take advantage.

I'm joking (a little), because companies that aren't in the business of providing tech solutions to government hurdles do have to spend--but even there, I'd argue that more transparency is good for management and good for investors.

Back to Autonomy, things are going so well that it acquired Interwoven, a U.S.-based company with a strong position in the U.S. legal market.

The Obama administration is going to create even more opportunities for tech companies to provide services to other sectors of the economy, especially in the financial and health care sectors.

If you want your organization to get ahead, or if you want to get credit for showing it the way forward, think about what your organization can do to take advantage of this swing while the opportunity is still there.

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