Today compliance is a huge focus area for IT. Since compliance is written by lawyers for lawyers it takes a fair amount of translation to get it to the point where IT can understand what processes, policies, and configuration to implement to meet the requirements for a given compliance spec.
If you are a SQL Server DBA and face PCI compliance this white paper is a must read and the accompanying TechNet webcast a much watch.
New Links:
White Paper: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=6E1021DD-65B9-41C2-8385-438028F5ACC2&displaylang=en