Active Reasoning 3.2 Release Broadens Automation of Database, Operating System, and Application Controls; Expands Reporting; New Release Includes Full Integration With Peregrine ServiceCenter for Closed Loop Validation.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Active Reasoning, the leader in IT controls validation for enterprise risk mitigation, today released its 3.2 version that includes significant enhancements to extend reporting capabilities, expand validation of change management processes, and automate database, operating system, and application controls.

"Enterprise IT organizations are finding that even after adopting IT industry frameworks like ITIL and COBIT and spending millions of dollars to establish and install IT controls, employees are taking short cuts and bypassing safeguards," said Butch Winters, president and CEO of Active Reasoning. "With the expanded coverage of our 3.2 release, customers have even more ways to reduce the risks to their business from IT while reducing the cost of manually policing controls by 30 percent or more."

Release 3.2 extends the ease and flexibility of reporting critical information by offering full integration with Crystal Reports. "Information technology departments need better reporting tools to highlight system vulnerabilities and demonstrate performance against IT controls and compliance initiatives," said David Greene, vice president of marketing. "We not only provide a set of compelling reports out of the box, but also give clients full flexibility to create their own reports from the thousands of events that Active Reasoning collects."

The new reports detail information about activities and changes users are performing across the entire IT infrastructure. The reports eliminate time consuming and expensive manual audits for security, performance, and compliance.

New integration with Peregrine ServiceCenter lets users close the loop on change management. Previous releases offered the same capabilities to BMC Remedy customers. Active Reasoning software validates actual changes in the IT environment against planned change requests, identifying those changes that happen without approvals. Reports against these activities highlight best practice and controls violations, enabling companies to continually refine their IT processes and reduce risk of service outages. Internal and external audit costs are also reduced since immediate, comprehensive reporting of approved and unapproved changes are instantly available.

"Enterprise-wide IT control policies are largely built on trust but Active Reasoning clients are able to automatically trust but verify," stated Winters. "Now, both Remedy and Peregrine users can detect unauthorized changes as they occur."

Additional features of the 3.2 release include:

--Linux Support. Version 3.2 extends support to leading Linux platforms, enabling continuous event monitoring in the same fashion as Active Reasoning's operating system capabilities on Windows 2000/2003, NT, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, and OS/400.

--Database Support. Extended database support for Informix and Sybase supplements event-based database collection on Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2.

--Database Inventory. Captures and retains the contents of key tables as they change over time.

--Automated Validation by User. Active Reasoning can now automatically validate that the correct user took a planned action.

--MAPI Integration. Simplified integration for automated email based notification and acknowledgements.

--"Best Practice" Policies. New pre-defined policy templates for ERP systems, databases, operating systems and applications are also featured in the new release to speed deployment and deliver immediate return on investment for Active Reasoning users.

Version 3.2 represents the next step in Active Reasoning's strategy to develop the industry's most comprehensive, continuous, and centralized solution for IT control validation and automation.

About Active Reasoning

Active Reasoning helps global enterprises reduce the risk of unplanned outages in their IT infrastructure by detecting, validating and reporting unauthorized change and out-of-compliance actions in the IT infrastructure. As the first provider of continuous compliance for the IT infrastructure, Active Reasoning software automates comprehensive detection, validation, and reporting of unauthorized change and out-of-compliance actions. Enterprise customers in the financial services, retail, utility, services, and other industries are using Active Reasoning to achieve 30 percent reductions in IT compliance cost and control over the leading causes of downtime. For more information, visit the company's website at www.activereasoning.com or call [phone].

Active Reasoning is a trademark of Active Reasoning, Inc. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.