Security Compliance Manager - Beta Now Open!

Hi All,

The Security Compliance Manager provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, customization capabilities, and security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.

Take advantage of the experience of Microsoft security professionals, and reduce the time and money required to harden for your environment. This end-to-end Solution Accelerator will help you plan, deploy, operate, and manage your security baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications. Access the complete database of Microsoft recommended security settings, customize your baselines, and then choose from multiple formats—including Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), XLS, or Group Policy objects (GPOs)—to export the baselines to your environment to automate the security baseline compliance verification process. Use Security Compliance Manager to achieve a secure, reliable, and centralized IT environment that will help you better balance your organization’s needs for security and functionality.

Key Features & Benefits

– Centralized Management and Baseline Portfolio: The centralized management console of the Security Compliance Manager provides you with a unified, end-to-end user experience to plan, customize, and export security baselines. The tool gives you full access to a complete portfolio of recommended baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications.

– Security Baseline Customization: Customizing, merging, and reviewing your baselines just got easier. Now you can use the new customization capabilities of the Security Compliance Manager to duplicate any of the recommended baselines from Microsoft—for Windows client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications—and quickly modify security settings to meet the standards of your organization’s environment.

– Security Baseline Comparison and Export: Security Compliance Manager enables you to quickly adopt the latest Microsoft product releases. Side-by-side baseline comparison features allow you to identify any changes to setting configurations and merge baselines within a product family with ease. Export and deploy baselines in your format of choice, including Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), XLS, or Group Policy objects (GPOs).

– Security Baseline Compliance Monitoring and Verification: Keep current with the latest releases from Microsoft; automate your security baseline compliance process, and take advantage of baseline version control and automatic update features. The planning, customization, and export features of Security Compliance Manager quickly enable you to leverage monitoring and verification technologies, automate policy deployment, and produce compliance reports.

The beta review program for Security Compliance Manager is now open! Join now, and utilize this opportunity to provide feedback and help the development team build this tool to best meet your needs.

Next steps:

· Join the Security Compliance Manager Beta. Then tell the development team what you think!

· Already a member? Bookmark this link for access to the program page.

· Help us spread the word—share the beta invitation link with your friends.

· Want to see where it all started? Download the current version: Security Compliance Management Toolkit.

The beta will run through March 2010. That means now is the time to join the beta program, take an early look at this tool, and provide the Security Solution Accelerators team with your feedback.

Want the facts straight from the development team? Check out this series of short videos! Better yet, post your own video response sharing your favourite feature.

Webcasts / Videos

Introducing the Security Compliance Toolkit Series (Part 1 of 3)
Vlad Pigin, Senior Program Manager and Shruti Kala, Product Manager
Run time: 6:37

GPO Accelerator Demo (Part 2 of 3)
Vlad Pigin, Senior Program Manager and Sumit Parikh, Test Lead
Run time: 9:12

Security Baselines and Compliance Demo (Part 3 of 3)
Vlad Pigin, Senior Program Manager and Michael Tan, Senior Program Manager
Run time: 15:06