At the RSA Conference 2006, Quest Software introduced today Quest Compliance Portal, an integrated web portal that enables IT and business users to securely and remotely access compliance-related information. This announcement coincides with the availability of Quest InTrust 9.0 as the latest enhancements to the Quest Compliance Suite for Windows.

The new Compliance Portal lets business decision-makers and auditors see at a glance how an organization’s IT department is meeting the requirements imposed by specific areas of regulatory legislation. Data generated by products within the Quest Compliance Suite for Windows is automatically gathered and compiled into reports that are viewable in real time via the portal. Regulation-specific report packs (including COBIT, FISMA, HIPAA, ITIL, Basel II and Sarbanes-Oxley) are available to allow evaluation of compliance details important to each specific regulation.

“Compliance with regulatory legislation is a non-negotiable requirement faced by organizations worldwide,” said Doug Davis, director of product management, Quest Software. “IT must be prepared to respond promptly to auditors’ requests for information, and Quest’s solutions help by automating key controls that provide both operational and compliance benefits. Our new portal helps IT meet the business need for current, thorough, and relevant reporting.”

The Quest Compliance Suite for Windows consists of Quest InTrust, Quest InTrust for Active Directory, Quest Reporter and the Quest Compliance Portal. These solutions enable IT organizations to establish a baseline of who has access to critical information, and then to track how that access is used. Most importantly, the products alert appropriate personnel in real time to changes that may represent compliance or security vulnerabilities. The Compliance Portal automatically generates reports on events such as accesses of shared files, user and administrative activity, and elevations in access permissions.

Increasing regulatory pressures have created the need for solutions like the Quest Compliance Suite.

"In the two years since Sarbanes Oxley took effect, businesses have done a lot of work in automating their process controls,” said Vivian Tero, senior research analyst, Compliance Infrastructure, IDC. “However, managing IT for compliance remains a fluid process and there is a need for organizations to manage and measure risk from non-compliance in the controlled environment. Monitoring, reporting and audit tools for compliance provide a means to measure and document an organization’s ability to meet legislative requirements and help IT provide quantifiable metrics to build their business case."