CA Bolsters Its Security And Compliance Offerings
"Compliance is what really drove these releases," said Lina Liberti, vice president of CA security management products, in an interview with CRN. Companies not only need to implement security technologies to protect their IT networks, she said, but they have to prove that adequate security systems are in place and that those systems are being sustained. The products join seven others CA released in October and November 2007, collectively known as CA Identity and Access Management (CA IAM) r12.
Topping the list is CA Security Compliance Manager, a new product that automates processes for determining which systems employees can access and what they are allowed to do, as well as who granted authorization for those activities. The application carries out security tasks such as certification and attestation, orphan and active accounts reporting, and actionable remediation and validation.
Also recently shipped is an update to the CA Access Control Premium Edition application that helps companies manage policy and regulatory compliance regarding host-system access. The software provides more advanced compliance reporting capabilities, including more out-of-the-box reports and the ability to feed data to third-party databases for additional reporting.
The enhanced workflow capabilities are the most significant improvements in the identity management application suite, said Phillip Lentz, CTO of Logic Trends Inc., an Atlanta-based solution provider. "In the past it has been somewhat challenging to do customized workflows," Lentz said of earlier versions. And the software's new compliance reporting features will help Logic Trends meet customer demands for a central reporting database for all compliance activities.
"Companies are not just talking about compliance, they are moving toward automating compliance," said Nitin Khadse, director of the eServices security practice at Rolta International Inc., an Atlanta-based CA channel partner. Compliance tools like CA's are a necessary addition to any company's identity management and access control systems, he said.
Amid the flood of announcements, CA also unveiled CA Software Compliance Manager, an add-on module for its CA IT Asset Management solution for tracking software assets and their licenses, to help companies comply with license agreements and meet audit requirements. A date for the product's general availability was not disclosed.