Change-management software specialist Tripwire has launched a free best-practice guide designed to make it easier for IT chiefs to manage their compliance, operations, security and auditing activities.

The 57-page document, entitled "Prescriptive Guide on Operational Excellence ", has already been downloaded by over 10,000 people in the US and is now available in the UK for the first time, the company said.

Paul Gostick, market development manager for Europe the Middle East and Africa at Tripwire, said the guide includes best-practice guidelines, a self-assessment checklist and tips on how to instigate best practices in areas such as compliance and change management.

"The IT director is being asked to now wear a large number of different hats and IT professionals are struggling to understand both the IT and audit world," said Rob Warmack, vice-president of product marketing and communications at the company. "This [document] offers a simple guide to all those different areas IT now has to act in."

Warmack said the guide also features a simple introduction to the widely adopted Itil best practices that "pulls out a subset of Itil recommendations that are most likely to impact your business".

Tripwire is also working on a second version of the guidelines that will feature new guidance on regulatory issues such as Basel II and Mifid, he added.