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NAPERVILLE, Ill., Aug 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- For the third consecutive year, financial executives have overwhelmingly rated Information Integrity as their most critical technology issue, revealed in an annual survey commissioned by the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research arm of FEI, and produced independently by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc.

Released today, the joint study, entitled "Technology Issues for Financial Executives," surveyed more than 250 senior financial executives over the past seven months to identify high-priority information technology concerns. More than 84 percent of the financial executives surveyed rated Information Integrity as important or critical to meeting their business objectives. An overwhelming majority of respondents (three quarters) describe their present level of Information Integrity as "hampering current business objectives." Despite this fact, more than half (59%) of respondents indicated that they did not have a formal program planned to improve Information Integrity.

"Given the importance of Information Integrity and the broadly-shared belief that the lack of Information Integrity is negatively impacting business performance, it is very alarming that more organizations do not already have improvement programs and plans in place," said FEI President and CEO Marie N. Hollein. "We recognize that this is a significant void among finance professionals, and one that can potentially have an impact on companies globally. FEI is addressing this concern through a strategic partnership with software provider Infogix, which will help to further educate our members of the opportunities that independent information controls provide in improving Information Integrity."

Additional key findings from the survey include:

-- More than half (51.9%) of financial managers view measuring product and customer profitability as the top constraint.

-- A third (37.5%) of respondents perceive integrating the financial function with the overall enterprise as a high priority.

-- Corporate Performance Management is seen as a high priority investment.

-- With the current level of IT spending averaging 3.65% of revenue, 39.9% of respondents saw IT spending at the same level from 2006 and 2009.

-- Firms are still willing to make investments in technology despite the recession, whereas 86.3% of firms are willing to make IT investments in areas that can demonstrate competitive advantage, efficiency and enterprise transformation capabilities.

Through the strategic partnership, FEI's 15,000 members have access to the Information Integrity(R) experts at Infogix and are equipped with helpful solutions to assure the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of critical business information and processes.

"The increasing escalation of information errors turning into embarrassing news headlines is one more indication of the growing Information Integrity imperative," said Infogix company leader, Madhavan Nayar. "We are pleased and proud to share our expertise and customer successes to educate FEI's members on best practices in implementing information integrity solutions."

Three-fourths of FEI member survey participants are at the senior executive level or higher, and represent companies of all types, sizes and industries, including financial services, high tech, consumer goods, retail, manufacturing and others. FERF and Gartner executed the survey and resulting research independent of Infogix. To learn more about the survey and to view the full report, visit www.infogix.com/financial_executives.

About Financial Executives International (FEI)

Financial Executives International is the leading advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its 15,000 members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers, treasurers and controllers at companies from every major industry. FEI enhances member professional development through peer networking, career management services, conferences, teleconferences and publications. Members participate in the activities of 85 chapters, 74 in the U.S. and 11 in Canada. FEI is headquartered in Florham Park, NJ, with additional offices in Washington, DC, and Toronto. Visit http://www.financialexecutives.org/ for more information.

About Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF)

Since 1944, FERF has been an independent source of practical information, service and expertise for senior financial executives. FERF is primarily supported by voluntary, tax-deductible contributions from corporations, FEI chapters and individuals. FERF's mission is to meet the needs of the financial management professional by identifying, developing and distributing timely research in a variety of ways. FERF provides a wide range of research-driven content through published research studies, articles in Financial Executive magazine, electronic newsletters and the FEI Web site, among other formats.

About Infogix, Inc.

Many of the world's largest enterprises depend on Infogix Controls to eliminate information errors. Infogix Controls are independent, automated and continuous. They can be deployed enterprise-wide across applications, platforms, and business processes. Infogix offers a powerful portfolio of software products and services (Infogix Controls Solutions) to monitor, detect, and prevent information errors. Since 1982, Infogix has been providing Infogix Controls Solutions to Global 2000 enterprises. Millions of Infogix Controls continuously monitor and assure the integrity of information in hundreds of enterprises every day. For more information visit www.infogix.com.

SOURCE: Infogix, Inc.