WO2009102653A1

WO2009102653A1 - Compliance policy enforcement in computer systems

Info

Publication number: WO2009102653A1
Application number: PCT/US2009/033526
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nitin Jain; Amit Bhalla; Sourav Mukherjee; Macks Ningombam; Anurag Singh; Aawardhan Logandan
Original assignee: Oracle International Corporation
Priority date: 2008-02-11
Filing date: 2009-02-09
Publication date: 2009-08-20

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system for maintaining a software system. During operation, the system obtains a compliance policy for the software system and monitors the software system for a violation of the compliance policy. If a violation is detected, the system performs appropriate operations to resolve the violation.

Description

COMPLIANCE POLICY ENFORCEMENT IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Inventors: Nitin Jain, Amit Bhalla, Sourav Mukherjee, Macks Ningombam, Anurag Singh, and Aawardhan Logandan

BACKGROUND

Field

[0001] The present invention relates to compliance policies in software systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing change recommendations to enforce a compliance policy for a software system.

Related Art

[0002] Computer systems which are maintained by an Information Technology (IT) department are subject to constant change. For example, as technology evolves, system vulnerabilities are often discovered and new system features are released. Consequently, computer systems may require frequent upgrades, patches, configuration changes, and/or other modifications. Moreover, a system administrator may have to ensure that his/her system complies with local regulatory policies, organization-specific policies, cross-vendor requirements, and/or other rules and regulations. For example, an organization-specific policy may require FTP ports to be closed on all systems within the organization to prevent data theft. Similarly, governmental regulations may specify requirements for auditing capabilities on software systems. To facilitate compliance with the various policies, the administrator may be responsible for collecting the policies and creating a set of configuration standards.

[0003] Various difficulties may arise in ensuring compliance with the configuration standards. First, software and hardware components may require constant monitoring to keep abreast of deviations from the system configuration standards. Moreover, policy violations are currently resolved by manual lookups to determine the necessary changes to enforce compliance. In addition, the configuration standards may change in content as well as number over time. Consequently, manual enforcement of the various configuration standards may become increasingly difficult as the configuration standards, system sub-components, and the organization's needs evolve.

SUMMARY

[0004] Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system for maintaining a software system. During operation, the system obtains a compliance policy for the software system and monitors the software system for a violation of the compliance policy. If a violation is detected, the system performs appropriate operations to resolve the violation. [0005] In some embodiments, the system also reevaluates the software system using the compliance policy. If the software system conforms to the compliance policy, the system clears the violation.

[0006] In some embodiments, the software system is monitored by translating the compliance policy into a set of checks and running the checks on the software system. [0007] In some embodiments, the compliance policy is user-authored.

[0008] In some embodiments, the violation is associated with a password reset, a security attack, a port, a configuration file, a software patch, an application type, an application version, or a standard.

[0009] In some embodiments, if a violation is detected, the system generates a change recommendation associated with the violation using the compliance policy and provides the change recommendation to an administrator, so that the administrator can use the change recommendation to resolve the violation.

[0010] In some further embodiments, the change recommendation is provided to the administrator using a change recommendation user interface (UI). [0011] In some embodiments, if a violation is detected, the system retrieves a change package associated with the violation based on the compliance policy and automatically deploys the change package to the software system to resolve the violation.

[0012] In some further embodiments, the change package is user-specified. [0013] In some further embodiments, the software system is an enterprise solution. [0014] In some embodiments, the software system is executed at a data center.

[0015] In some embodiments, the compliance policy comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention

[0018] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary screenshot of a change recommendation user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [0019] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of software system maintenance for change recommendation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of automated compliance policy enforcement in a software system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of software system monitoring in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the disclosed embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present description. Thus, the present description is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

[0023] The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system. This includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media now known or later developed. [0024] Embodiments of the invention provide a method and apparatus for maintaining software systems. Software systems may correspond to standalone applications, application suites, operating systems, enterprise software solutions, databases, and/or other types of software. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide a method and apparatus for facilitating the enforcement of a compliance policy for a software system. The compliance policy may include organizational regulations, cross-vendor requirements, local regulatory policies, and/or other compliance requirements for the software system. The enforcement of the compliance policy may be automated.

[0025] In one or more embodiments of the invention, the compliance policy is user- authored. In addition, a configuration framework may be used to monitor the software system for violations of the compliance policy. If a violation is detected, the configuration framework may generate a change recommendation associated with the violation using the compliance policy, or obtain a change package associated with the violation. The configuration framework may also provide the change recommendation to an administrator of the software system, thus allowing the administrator to resolve the violation using the change recommendation. In one or more embodiments of the invention, a change recommendation user interface (UI) is used to provide change recommendations to the administrator. If the configuration framework obtains a change package, the framework may automatically deploy the change package to resolve the violation, thus providing enforcement of the compliance policy without manual intervention by an administrator.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The system is used to maintain a software system 112 and includes a change recommendation user interface (UI) 120 and a configuration framework 102. Configuration framework 102 includes a target data repository 108, a compliance policy 110, a configuration engine 104, and a change recommendation engine 108. Each of the components is described in further detail below.

[0027] Software system 112 may correspond to a standalone application, application suite, operating system, enterprise software solution, database, and/or other type of software. In addition, software system 112 may be executed in a variety of environments. For example, software system 112 may be executed on a single desktop computer or workstation, or software system 112 may be distributed across multiple servers within a data center.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, software system 112 includes multiple targets (e.g., target 1 114, target m 116). Each target may correspond to a component or subcomponent of software system 112. For example, an enterprise solution may include one or more targets corresponding databases, business logic layers, user interfaces, network configurations, middleware, and/or other parts of the enterprise solution. In other words, targets may refer to individual software modules that perform specific tasks within software system 112. In addition, the functionality of software system 112 may be produced by the interaction of the targets with one another. For example, a financial transaction application, such as an enterprise solution for processing financial transactions, may include one or more databases for storing data related to financial accounts, financial transactions, and users; business logic and middleware for performing financial transactions; and a user interface to allow users to access and use the application.

[0029] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that software system 112 may be subject to a variety of organization-specific policies, local regulatory policies, cross-vendor requirements, and/or other rules and regulations. Requirements relevant to software system 112 may further be formulated into a set of configuration standards that are applied to software system 112. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the configuration standards include specific guidelines and parameters within which software system 112 must be kept to conform to the various rules and regulations required of the operation of software system 112. For example, requirements pertaining to software system 112 may be translated into configuration standards describing the opening and closing of ports, authentication and encryption mechanisms, configuration file parameter values, software patches, application compatibility, and/or other configuration aspects of software system 112.

[0030] In one or more embodiments of the invention, configuration standards from various rules and regulations are compiled into compliance policy 110. In addition, compliance policy 110 may be used by configuration framework 102 to monitor and maintain software system 112. As with software system 112, configuration framework 102 may be executed in various environments. For example, configuration framework 102 may be executed using the same machine(s) as software system 112, or configuration framework 102 may run on one or more hosts that communicate with software system 112 using a network connection. [0031] In one or more embodiments of the invention, configuration framework 102 uses an agent process 118 to interface with software system 112. Specifically, agent process 118 may collect target information about the targets in software system 112. The target information may include data such as configuration file parameters, software patches, software types and versions, and/or other settings found on software system 112. In addition, the target information may be stored in target data repository 108 for use by configuration framework 102.

[0032] To monitor software system 112 for conformity to compliance policy 110, configuration engine 104 may compare target information in target data repository 108 with configuration standards in compliance policy 110. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the comparison is done by translating the configuration standards into a set of checks and running the checks on the target information and/or on software system 112. If a check fails, a violation is raised by configuration engine 104. [0033] In one or more embodiments of the invention, compliance policy 110 is represented using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. The XML document may include tags and elements that specify and describe configuration standards, rules associated with each configuration standard, targets on which to apply the rules, tests that check for compliance to the configuration standards, and/or other information pertinent to enforcement of the compliance policy. The XML file may be parsed by configuration engine 104 to obtain relevant rules, tests, targets, and/or other information, which are then applied to the target information to determine conformity to the configuration standards within compliance policy 110. An example XML document for a configuration standard is shown below:

<?xml version="l .0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<std: Standard xmlns : std="http: //www. oracle . com/DataCenter/ConfigStd" xmlns : xsi="http: //www. w3. org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="CriticalUpdatesStandard"> <std: DisplayName>

Oracle Critical Patch Update </std: DisplayName>

<std: TargetType>host</std: TargetType> <std:Author>Oracle</std:Author> <std: Version>l</std: Version>

<std: LifeCycleStatus>Production</std: LifeCycleStatus> <std: IsSystem>true</std: IsSystem> <std: Description> Ensures compliance to Critical Security recommendations </std: Description> <std: KeywordList>

<std : Keyword>SECURITY_KEYWORD</std : Keyword> </std: KeywordList> <std:Body>

<std: RuleFolder name="Critical Updates rules"> <std: DisplayName>

Critical Updates vulnerability rules </std: DisplayName> <std: Description> Evaluates security vulnerability on the hosts </std: Description> <std:Rule name="Critical Updates vulnerability rule">

<std: DisplayName> Critical Updates vulnerability rule </std: DisplayName>

<std: Description>

Ensure that no host is vulnerable to any critical patch advisory

</std: Description> <std:Rationale>

Ensure that no host is vulnerable to any critical patch advisory

</std:Rationale> <std: ChangeAdvisorTag> <std: Type>Oracle Recommendation</std: Type>

<std: Subtype>Security</std: Subtype> <std: Reason>Critical Patch Update</std: Reason> </std: ChangeAdvisorTag> <std: ViolationContextList> <std: Column name="HostName">

<std: DisplayLabel>

Host Name

</std: DisplayLabel> <std: IsKey>false</std: IsKey> </std:Column>

<std: Column name="AdvisoryNames"> <std: DisplayLabel>

Advisory Names </std: DisplayLabel> <std: IsKey>false</std: IsKey>

</std:Column>

</std: ViolationContextList> <std:Test> select this . targetGuid as TARGET_GUID, this . targetName as HostName, CPF_CA. GET_ADVISORIES (this . targetName) as

AdvisoryNames from this where 'true' =

CPF_CA.VULNERABLE_HOST (this . targetName) </std:Test> </std:Rule>

</std:RuleFolder> </std:Body> </std: Standard> [0034] As shown in the XML document, a configuration standard name of

"CriticalUpdatesStandard" is used. In addition, the configuration standard includes a description of "Ensures compliance to Critical Security recommendations." The configuration standard also includes a rule to "Ensure that no host is vulnerable to any critical patch advisory." The rule further includes a test written in Structured Query Language (SQL), which may be used by configuration engine 104 to check for compliance to the rule. [0035] In one or more embodiments of the invention, compliance policy 110 is user- authored by an administrator of software system 112 using XML, as discussed above. As a result, the administrator may easily specify organization-specific configuration standards using XML. One or more portions of compliance policy 110 may also be based on rules and regulations provided by outside parties such as vendors or government agencies. These rules and regulations may be translated into XML configuration standards by the administrator and similarly incorporated into compliance policy 110. Alternatively, XML-formatted configuration standards may be available on servers for the vendors, agencies, and/or other third parties. The configuration standards may be obtained from the servers and directly placed into compliance policy 110 without further formatting by the administrator. Consequently, the use of XML to describe compliance policy 110 may allow rules and regulations from multiple sources to be consolidated into a single document. Moreover, the document may easily be updated to reflect changes in software system 112 and/or associated rules and regulations.

[0036] If a violation is detected by configuration engine 104, the violation is passed to change recommendation engine 106, which may then use compliance policy 110 to generate a change recommendation associated with the violation. In other words, compliance policy 110 includes both tests for conformity to configuration standards and suggested solutions to detected violations of configuration standards.

[0037] Alternatively, the violation can be passed to an enforcement engine to obtain a change package associated with the violation as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the one shown in FIG. 1, the system is used to maintain a software system 212 and includes a change package repository 220 and a configuration framework 202. Configuration framework 202 includes a target data repository 208, a compliance policy 210, a configuration engine 204, and an enforcement engine 208. More specifically, compliance policy 210 may include a link or pointer to the change package (e.g., change package 1 222, change package n 224), which enforcement engine 108 may use to retrieve the change package. Enforcement engine 208 may then automatically deploy the change package to resolve the violation. In other words, compliance policy 210 includes both tests for conformity to configuration standards and solutions to detected violations of configuration standards. Furthermore, the solutions may automatically be applied to software system 212 to resolve the violations without manual intervention by the administrator. As a result, configuration framework 202 and change package repository 220 may provide an automated mechanism for enforcing compliance policy 210 on software system 212.

[0038] For example, the test in the above XML document includes SQL code that checks for advisories regarding critical patches. If any advisories exist, the test also retrieves a list of critical patches, which may be used to generate a change recommendation that suggests installing the critical patches as shown in FIG. 1. Or, the test may retrieves a list of critical patches, which may be stored in change package repository 220 and applied to software system 212 to address the advisories, as shown in FIG. 2. As with the configuration standards, the change recommendations or references to the change packages may be added to compliance policy 110 or compliance policy 210, respectively, by the administrator or another author of the XML document. For example, a web crawler may be used to obtain a list of security vulnerabilities and patches for software system 112/212 from one or more websites. The web crawler may then format the security vulnerabilities and patches into XML-based configuration standards that are included in compliance policy 110.

Alternatively, the web crawler may store the patches in change package repository 220, and provide links and/or pointers to the patches in compliance policy 210.

[0039] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that change package repository 220 may include a combination of user-authored and third-party change packages. For example, change packages in change package repository 220 may include scripts or batch files written by the administrator to open and close ports, update database entries, apply patches, and/or perform other modifications to software system 212. On the other hand, change packages may be provided by software vendors, open source communities, and/or other third parties. Such change packages may be placed in change package repository 220 by obtaining the change packages from servers corresponding to the third parties. Thus the administrator may be able to more efficiently maintain software system 212 by obtaining patches, fixes, and/or other compliance policy enforcement solutions from a variety of sources.

[0040] In one or more embodiments of the invention, change recommendations generated by change recommendation engine 106 are provided to the administrator of software system 112, who may use the change recommendations to resolve the violations. In one or more embodiments of the invention, change recommendation user interface (UI) 120 may be used to display change recommendations (e.g., change recommendation 1 122, change recommendation n 124) to the administrator. To apply the change recommendations, the administrator may manually retrieve suggested patches, change configuration file parameters, and/or perform other recommended changes to software system 112.

Alternatively, the administrator may approve the change recommendations using change recommendation UI 120, and the change recommendations may be carried out using configuration framework 102 or another mechanism. As a result, the administrator may resolve violations of compliance policy 110 more efficiently using configuration framework 102 and change recommendation UI 120.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary screenshot of a change recommendation UI in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The change recommendation UI may form part of a helpdesk application that is used by the administrator to maintain the software system. As described above, the change recommendation UI may be used to display a list of change recommendations 306 to an administrator of a software system, such as software system 112 of FIG. 1. Each of the change recommendations 306 may aid in the maintenance of the software system by facilitating the resolution of a corresponding compliance policy violation by software system 112. In one or more embodiments of the invention, compliance policy violations are associated with issues such as password resets, security attacks, opening and closing of ports, configuration file parameters, software patches, application types, application versions, and/or other standards.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 3, change recommendations 306 include information about targets 316 of the recommended changes. For example, a violation of a configuration standard related to a patch may be detected on multiple targets. As a result, a change recommendation for each target in violation of the configuration standard may be placed into a directory corresponding to the configuration standard. Each of the change recommendations 306 may also be associated with a type 318, such as "Interim Patch," "Configuration Script," or "SQL Script." Furthermore, each change recommendation may be placed into a cart 320, which may assign the violation and associated change recommendation to an area, group, and/or team for resolution of the violation. Finally, each change recommendation 306 may include age 322 information corresponding to the number of days the violation is listed and unresolved. [0043] In addition, FIG. 3 shows a specific compliance policy violation 302 related to an incorrect setting of a concurrent domain parameter. The screenshot also displays the target name 304 and host 308 on which the violation is found, and a description 310 of the change recommendation for violation 302. To resolve the violation, the administrator may add the change recommendation to a cart using input 312, or the administrator may deploy the change recommendation immediately using input 314.

[0044] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of software system maintenance for change recommendation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG. 4 should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0045] Initially, a compliance policy is obtained for a software system (operation 402). The compliance policy may be authored by an administrator of the software system, obtained from a vendor of the software system, and/or issued by a regulatory agency. The compliance policy may also be formatted using XML to facilitate the collection of various policies and regulations into a single document. The use of XML may additionally enable changes in organizational, local, and/or vendor-specific rules and regulations to be incorporated easily into the compliance policy. [0046] The software system is monitored for violations to the compliance policy

(operation 404). Specifically, the compliance policy may include a set of configuration standards related to the enforcement of rules and regulations relevant to the software system. The software system is compared against each configuration standard to detect violations of the compliance policy (operation 406). If no new violations are detected, the compliance policy is periodically updated and the software system is continually monitored for violations to the compliance policy (operations 402-404).

[0047] If a new violation is detected, a change recommendation associated with the violation is generated (operation 408). The change recommendation may be stored in the compliance policy and retrieved when a violation of a specific configuration standard is found. For example, a configuration standard for a security vulnerability may include a test for the security vulnerability. If the security vulnerability is detected using the test, the configuration standard may include a patch for the security vulnerability. The change recommendation may be generated by looking up the patch using the configuration standard and including the patch in the change recommendation. [0048] The change recommendation is provided to the administrator (operation 410) so that the administrator may use the change recommendation to resolve the violation (operation 412). To resolve the violation, the administrator may approve the change recommendation, which may be deployed on the software system. Alternatively, the administrator may assign the change recommendation to another group or team for deployment. If the violation is resolved, the violation is cleared (operation 414) and the change recommendation is cleared (operation 416). If the violation is not resolved, the change recommendation is displayed to the administrator until action is taken by the administrator to resolve the violation. [0049] The software system may continue to be monitored (operation 418) using the compliance policy as long as the software system is in use. If new violations are detected, change recommendations are generated and provided to the administrator until the violations are resolved (operations 406-416). In addition, the compliance policy may be periodically updated (operation 402) to obtain configuration standards that reflect the most recent changes to rules and regulations for the software system.

[0050] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of automated compliance policy enforcement in a software system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG. 5 should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0051] Operations 502-504 in FIG. 5 are similar to operations 402-404 in FIG. 4. If a new violation is detected (operation 506), a change package associated with the violation is retrieved (operation 508) and automatically deployed (operation 510). A link or pointer to the change package may be stored in the compliance policy and point to the location of the change package in a change package repository. Furthermore, the change package may be obtained from the change package repository using the link or pointer and deployed to fix the violation. For example, a configuration standard for a security vulnerability may include a test for the security vulnerability. If the security vulnerability is detected using the test, the configuration standard may include a link to a patch for the security vulnerability. The patch may be retrieved from the change package repository using the link and deployed to fix the security vulnerability. Alternatively, a script in the change package repository may be run with the link to the patch as a parameter. The script may then retrieve the patch from a third- party website and apply the patch to the software system. [0052] After deploying the change package, the software system may be examined for resolution of the violation (operation 512). If the violation is resolved by the change package, the violation is cleared (operation 514). If the violation is not resolved, further attempts may be made to deploy the change package or another change package to resolve the violation (operation 506-510). In addition, an administrator of the software system may be notified of the uncleared violation so that the administrator may use other methods to resolve the violation.

[0053] The software system may continue to be monitored (operation 516) using the compliance policy as long as the software system is in use. If violations are detected, change packages are retrieved and deployed to resolve the violations (operations 506-514). In addition, the compliance policy may be periodically updated (operation 502) to obtain configuration standards that reflect the most recent changes to rules and regulations for the software system. [0054] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of software system monitoring in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG. 6 should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. [0055] First, target information is obtained from the software system (operation 602).

As described above, the software system may include multiple targets (e.g., databases, applications, operating systems, processes, etc.) executing in a distributed environment, such as a data center. The target information may include configuration parameters, open and closed ports, and/or other settings and operating data for each of the targets. The data may be obtained using one or more agent processes which serve as interfaces with the software system. The target information is then stored in a target data repository (operation 604).

[0056] The target information may be checked for violations of a compliance policy for the software system. To do so, the compliance policy is translated into a set of checks (operation 606), which are then run on the target information (operation 608). For example, the compliance policy may be an XML document that includes a set of configuration standards. Each configuration standard may include a set of XML tags and elements that provide a test of conformity to the configuration standard. The test may use a script, such as a SQL script, or another comparison tool to examine one or more data fields in the target data repository for conformity to the configuration standard. The XML file may be parsed to obtain the test, which may be executed to determine if the configuration standard is violated by the software system.

[0057] If any checks fail (operation 610), violations associated with the failed checks are raised (operation 612). The violations may then be resolved using change recommendations included in the compliance policy, as described above. [0058] The foregoing descriptions of embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A method for maintaining a software system, comprising: obtaining a compliance policy for the software system; monitoring the software system for a violation of the compliance policy; if a violation is detected: performing appropriate operations that can be used to resolve the violation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: reevaluating the software system using the compliance policy; and if the software system conforms to the compliance policy: clearing the violation.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software system is monitored by: translating the compliance policy into a set of checks; and running the checks on the software system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compliance policy is user-authored.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the violation is associated with at least one of a password reset, a security attack, a port, a configuration file, a software patch, an application type, an application version, and a standard.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the software system is executed at a data center.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the appropriate operations comprising: generating a change recommendation associated with the violation using the compliance policy; and providing the change recommendation to an administrator, so that the administrator can use the change recommendation to resolve the violation.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the change recommendation is provided to the administrator using a change recommendation user interface (UI).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the compliance policy comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the appropriate operations comprising: retrieving a change package associated with the violation based on the compliance policy; and automatically deploying the change package to the software system to resolve the violation

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the change package is user-specified.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the software system comprises an enterprise solution.

13. A system for maintaining a software system, comprising: a configuration framework configured to obtain a compliance policy, comprising a configuration engine configured to monitor the software system for a violation of the compliance policy.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising: a target data repository; and an agent process configured to: obtain target information from the software system; and store the target information in the target data repository, wherein the target information is used by the configuration standard framework to monitor the software system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the configuration engine is further configured to reevaluate the software system using the compliance policy, and clear the violation.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the software system is monitored by: translating the compliance policy into a set of checks; and running the checks on the software system.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the compliance policy is user-authored.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the violation is associated with at least one of a password reset, a security attack, a port, a configuration file, a software patch, an application type, an application version, and a standard.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the software system is executed at a data center.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the compliance policy comprises an

Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

21. The system of claim 13 , wherein the configuration framework further comprises a change recommendation engine configured to generate a change recommendation for the violation using the compliance policy, and wherein the system further comprises a change recommendation user interface (UI) configured to provide the change recommendation to an administrator of the software system, so that the administrator can use the change recommendation to resolve the violation.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the configuration framework further comprises an enforcement engine configured to: retrieve a change package associated with the violation from the set of change packages using the compliance policy; and automatically deploy the change package to the software system to resolve the violation.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the change package is user-provided.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the software system comprises an enterprise solution.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for maintaining a software system, the method comprising: obtaining a compliance policy for the software system; monitoring the software system for a violation of the compliance policy; if a violation is detected: performing appropriate operations that can be used to resolve the violation.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, the method further comprising: reevaluating the software system using the compliance policy; and if the software system conforms to the compliance policy: clearing the violation.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the software system is monitored by: translating the compliance policy into a set of checks; and running the checks on the software system.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the compliance policy is user-authored.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the violation is associated with at least one of a password reset, a security attack, a port, a configuration file, a software patch, an application type, an application version, and a standard.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the software system is executed at a data center.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the appropriate operations comprising: generating a change recommendation associated with the violation using the compliance policy; and providing the change recommendation to an administrator, so that the administrator can use the change recommendation to resolve the violation.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31 , wherein the change recommendation is provided to the administrator using a change recommendation user interface (UI).

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the appropriate operations comprising: retrieving a change package associated with the violation using the compliance policy; and automatically deploying the change package to the software system to resolve the violation.

34. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the software system comprises an enterprise solution.

35. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the change package is user-provided.

36. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the compliance policy comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.