For many companies, complying with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act can be a chore. Ecora Software Corp. on Tuesday introduced an updated version of its change- and configuration-management software to make that task easier. It also works across a variety of platforms.

Ecora's Enterprise Auditor version 3.6.2 has built-in HIPAA reports that map directly to the act's security rules, making it easier to quickly generate reports that can be used to demonstrate that a company is in compliance with the rules that mandate that certain types of information are kept confidential. Part of that is tracking changes to the network and devices attached to the network.

The Auditor automates the collection of information on configuration settings and changes to operating systems, applications, and devices. It works with Windows, HP-UX, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, and Red Hat Linux. The software also has been updated to work with Oracle 10g database servers, collecting configuration information for inclusion in on-board reports. New ease-of-use features include a scheduling tab that consolidates all scheduling capabilities such as collecting, reporting, archiving, and patch updates, an enhanced ability to filter even logs, and a systems-management interface that's designed to make it easier to change settings.

Change- and configuration-management software can help companies that need to conduct audits of their systems to prove they haven't been tampered with. "Ecora helps automate the audit, system health, and configuration of a network device. And that hasn't been multivendor until now," says Dennis Drogseth, an analyst at Enterprise Management Associates.

The new Auditor software is available today and costs $995 per Linux, Unix, or Windows server.