Sun Microsystems has expanded its web user identity
management portfolio with Sun Java System Federation Manager and
Sun Java System Identity Manager Service Provider
Edition. With identity
theft a growing issue, particularly as a result of identity
management scandals at big companies that are surfacing in the US
almost weekly, Sun is looking to tap into a growing market.
Federated identity
management allows corporate web users to move from one site to the
next and access applications and data without having to sign in to
each site.
Sun and Microsoft
recently joined forces to work on federated identity management
standards, but both companies have also launched their own products
since agreeing to collaborate.
Java Federation
Manager is designed to help companies create identity federations
across numerous partner sites quickly and efficiently.
Java Identity
Manager is an administration solution that helps enable federated
identity provisioning across trusted partner networks, and provides
identity services for registration, self-administration, delegated
administration and synchronisation.
Gerry Gebel, an
analyst at Burton Group, said, “As the adoption rate for identity
federation grows, enterprises require more sophisticated tools to
manage all types of federation relationships, and to easily enable
existing and potential partners to join federated communities.”