Configuresoft's ECM Automated SOX Compliance Drives ''Value Every Time'' for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.; ''Auditors gain another level of security'' with Enterprise Visibility, Reporting Integrity.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- When Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (DTAG) found itself consumed with manual checks and spreadsheets to collect data for internal auditors, the Company turned to Configuresoft's Enterprise Configuration Manager (ECM). ECM offers DTAG an out-of-the-box, automated solution to manage security event log data, patch levels and versions of anti-virus software to ensure compliance with internal policies and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

Within 30 days of purchasing ECM, DTAG implemented it across its 500 servers and was quickly on the road to automated compliance. This greatly reduced the risk for error in compiling data for auditors and ensuring data integrity. Five months following implementation, DTAG is using ECM for assessment, asset management, auditing, configuration management, compliance, patching and remediation tasks.

Now, DTAG is producing monthly reports to fulfill auditing requirements. Engineers run continuous checks and produce automated reports from data in ECM's configuration management database (CMDB) to address auditing inquiries. The data is not exposed to manual interpretation or collection, making it reliable and secure. "The auditors gain another level of security knowing the data has not been tampered with," said Robert Stewart, systems engineer.

The Fortune 1000 Company, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is driven by its "Value Every Time" mission. The Company's Dollar Rent-A-Car and Thrifty Car Rental brands serve value-conscious travelers in approximately 70 countries; the Dollar or Thrifty brands operate in virtually all of the top U.S. airport markets, and both operate in all of the top Canadian airport markets.

With more than 1,600 corporate and franchised worldwide locations, including more than 800 in the United States and Canada, the Company struggled to track inventory, and the engineers were unable to merge data from multiple hardware management systems. As a large, distributed environment, DTAG was unable to accurately report on the status of its enterprise.

One of DTAG's biggest challenges was in knowing if patches successfully deployed. Additionally, DTAG engineers had to collect and compile the data manually, which risked error and manipulation. Reliant on manual intervention, the Company had no way to provide confirmation of data integrity that the auditors required.

Engineers found they could also use ECM across functions to accomplish daily tasks. Among the unexpected rewards, Stewart noted, "Finding a unique way to automate our inventory was fantastic." The Server Management group was creating a custom database to track both hardware and asset inventory. Once they learned they could create machine groups and assign administrators to each group with ECM, they could also identify the machine administrator, physical location and user. "ECM provides visibility across our enterprise," he said. "It opened up opportunities for better systems management."

Today, ECM is central to DTAG operations for security, compliance and control. ECM illustrates when standards are met and measures the engineers' progress in keeping systems current. "We are managing our systems the way we want to," said Stewart. "Being able to determine our system status and what needs to be done, and then schedule the tasks, is a huge benefit."

About Enterprise Configuration Manager

By standardizing and monitoring server and client configurations by role, ECM ensures continuous operational compliance with regulatory, industry and corporate standards throughout a computing infrastructure. Sustained by a proven and scalable architecture, ECM collects tens of thousands of detailed asset, security and configuration settings from each Windows, UNIX and Linux server and workstation--storing that information in a centralized configuration management database (CMDB) for immediate access, analysis and reporting. ECM can enforce security policies by automatically resetting configurations to their desired state when an unauthorized change (or deviation) occurs. These capabilities help IT organizations keep their mission critical systems properly configured, while ensuring security compliance with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, GLBA, PCI DSS and FISMA.

About Configuresoft

Configuresoft is an innovator in systems management technology, ensuring continuous compliance with internal policies and external regulations across today's heterogeneous computing infrastructures. Spanning both security and operations, the Company's configuration management, compliance and remediation products are used by 11 of the world's 25 largest companies to keep their critical systems properly configured, while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, FISMA, GLBA, Basel II, HIPAA and DISA, and industry standards such as ISO 17799, PCI DSS and Microsoft Security Hardening Guides. To contact Configuresoft, please call (888) U-CONFIG or visit www.configuresoft.com.