IT organizations are embroiled in a feverish effort to implement systems, tools and solutions that will help them protect sensitive, private information and data based on best business practices. The sense of urgency has escalated because of the need to comply with various security regulations and legislation. The situation is complicated because organizations need to protect data across the life cycle-from the test environment through production. However, this is proving to be harder than initially envisioned. Furthermore, determining which technique should be used to disguise the data takes experience and expert knowledge that many companies just don’t have.

This paper discusses a five-step best practices approach to implementing a cost-effective and timely data privacy solution. It also details a brief case study illustrating how Compuware’s combination of tools, technology, best practices and customized services can save time and money.