RSA, the Security Division of EMC, announces the General Availability of RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1

[Anonymous]

Summary:

RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1 is an update that contains a number of enhancements and fixes to the RSA Archer GRC Platform. It marks the general availability of the GRC Platform Release 6.x that was introduced in November 2015 with RSA Archer GRC 6.The GRC 6.1 release introduces new packaging for all RSA Archer GRC offerings, which now comprise seven solution areas with 33 new and updated risk and compliance use cases.

Platforms:

RSA Archer GRC Platform running on all supported Operating System (OS) platforms.

Description:

RSA announces the general availability of RSA Archer GRC Release 6.1, which includes a number of enhancements and fixes to the RSA Archer GRC Platform.

This release introduces new packaging for all RSA Archer GRC offerings, which now comprise seven solution areas:

     · RSA Archer Audit Management

     · RSA Archer Business Resiliency

     · RSA Archer IT & Security Risk Management

     · RSA Archer Enterprise & Operational Risk Management

     · RSA Archer Regulatory & Corporate Compliance Management

     · RSA Archer Third Party Governance

     · RSA Archer Public Sector Solutions

These solution areas include 33 new and updated risk and compliance use cases. The new use case packaging is designed to provide each Archer customer with the purpose-built use cases they need, based on the organization’s GRC maturity. The use cases include out-of-the-box best practices to efficiently kick-start an effective risk and compliance program that can be incrementally expanded as the organization’s risk and compliance needs grow.

All RSA Archer solutions and use cases now feature the updated GRC 6 user interface for an enhanced user experience. In addition, enhanced functionality is being introduced for several use cases, including:

     · RSA Archer Business Impact Analysis – a Foundation use case that offers Advanced Workflow capabilities and robust assessments, allowing business process owners to understand the criticality of their processes based on seven impact categories:  financial, compliance, data integrity, data confidentiality, strategic, reputation, and operational.

     · RSA Archer Issues Management – a Foundation use case that engages control owners to own risks and issues related to their business domains. Control owners can manage findings, remediation plans and handle exception requests in one central location, and use Advanced Workflow capabilities to route issues to the right team.

     · RSA Archer Operational Risk Management – an Advantaged use case for the RSA Archer Enterprise & Operational Risk Management solution. It now offers Advanced Workflow capabilities and additional assessment targets to allow a risk manager to initiate control self-assessment (CSAs), risk and control self-assessment (RCSA), and process, risk and control self-assessment (pRCSA) campaigns focused on business process, business unit, or product/service.

The GRC 6.1 release introduces a new RSA Archer IT & Security Risk Management use case, RSA Archer Information Security Management System (ISMS). This Advantaged use case is designed specifically to speed the ISO:27001/2 certification process for organizations implementing the internationally recognized information security standard.

New functionality for the RSA Archer GRC Platform available in this release includes enhancements recently introduced in RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 5.5 SP4, as well as the following new GRC 6.1 features:

     · New user interface – The RSA Archer user interface introduced with GRC 6.0 has been updated to make navigation and performance of GRC tasks easier and more efficient. Improvements include a new look and feel, new navigation menus, and a task-driven landing screen.

     · New workflow design engine – Administrators now have access to an Advanced Workflow designer introduced with GRC 6.0 that allows them to create workflows using a graphical interface.

     · Advanced online help – A new web-based help interface provides easily accessible documentation on Platform capabilities to Archer administrators and business users. Solution-specific documentation that was previously available in the Practitioner Guide for each module is now available and searchable within the online help system.

     · New out-of-the-box use cases – Packaged, out-of-the-box use cases that leverage Advanced Workflow are now available for Loss Events, Self-Assessments, Metrics, Issues Management, and Business Impact Analysis.

     · Packaging improvements – To support the new Archer use case packaging approach, packaging enhancements have been made. Packages based on use cases have been created, and usability improvements such as ”Select All” and reports-only packaging have been introduced.

     · Security improvements –The Archer GRC Platform now incorporates SHA-2 encryption technology for greater security.

To read the Release Notes for GRC 6.1 and to get more information, go to the private Archer Customer/Partner Community on RSA Link (https://community.rsa.com/docs/DOC-41282).

To access the private Archer Customer/Partner Community, you must be a registered member; membership is limited to current Archer customers and partners. Registration is quick and easy two-step process:  register an account on RSA Link at https://community.rsa.com/welcome; then request access to the Archer Customer/Partner Community at https://emcinformation.com/389603/REG/.ashx.

Recommendation:

RSA recommends that all customers apply this latest upgrade. RSA Archer GRC Platform 6.1 requires that a minimum of RSA Archer GRC Platform 5.3 SP1 be installed before beginning this upgrade. Environments with earlier versions installed must first upgrade to RSA Archer GRC Platform 5.3 SP1. Please note information on upgrading to GRC 6.1 below.

To upgrade to RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1, please note the following:

     · RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1 requires a new license key that is specific to your environment.

     · This new license key is unique to RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1 and your personalized RSA Archer GRC environment.

     · To get your new RSA Archer GRC Platform Release 6.1 license, please follow these instructions:  https://community.rsa.com/docs/DOC-43293

          · Perform a SQL backup prior to upgrading.

          ·  Do not install the new Platform 6.1 license key to your Platform 5.x environment.  Doing so could result in some content becoming unavailable.   

          · To review the steps required for the upgrade process, please visit RSA Link and review the Upgrade Process: https://community.rsa.com/docs/DOC-43293.

For additional documentation, downloads, and more, visit the RSA Archer Suite  on RSA Link

EOPS Policy:

RSA has a defined End of Primary Support policy associated with all major versions. Please refer to the link below for additional details.
Product Version Life Cycle