Netcordia's NetMRI network change and configuration management product can now automatically issue security and compliance reports that can be monitored daily by CFOs and CIOs. The latest version 2.4 uses the platform's automated analysis of network information to create standardized, pass/fail reports on compliance with payment card industry (PCI) security standards. The new version also generates ISO 27002 reports validating information security management required by the Sarbanes-Oxley, Health Information Protection and Gramm-Leach-Bliley acts.

A daily PDF of the reports can be sent to senior executives, says Don Pyle, NetCordia's CEO. “Analysis would run throughout the day on what's happening in the network, and after 24 hours would be rolled up and distributed to recipients as well as maintained in a database,” Pyle says.

Real-time alerts are included. “If anyone tries to change policy for a network device that was unauthorized, a notification would be sent to the administrator identifying who it was,” Pyle says. In addition, reports on network health provide users with a 1-to-10 performance rating based on the severity and frequency of network problems. “We're reporting on the stability and the correctness of a network for routing, switching, security, VLANs and wireless domains,” says Pyle.