Because the combination
In one of the largest identity management software contracts to date, IBM
agreed to provide single sign-on Web services and other
software to mobile communications entity Orange.
Orange will use IBM’s Tivoli Access Manager, WebSphere Portal and WebSphere
Everyplace Access to let its 50 million mobile phone customers securely
access mobile services, including games, online banking and e-mail, after
signing in just once.
Financial terms of the agreement between IBM and Orange, a subsidiary of
Paris telco France Telecom, were not disclosed.
of IBM products will ideally provide a robust Web services platform, Orange
could provide a higher quality service for its customers, the companies said
in a statement.
For example, Orange’s subsidiaries and third-party content providers, such
as online banks, could access the Orange network and quickly pipe services
to customers with little hassle.
Moreover, Orange sister companies within France Telecom and third-party
content providers will not have to spend money to create individual identity
accounts for each Orange customer.
The secure sign-on element of the agreement is derived from Tivoli Access
Manager, which complies with Liberty 1.1 Web Services specifications for
single sign-on, allowing identity data to communicate over networks with
mixed gear. IBM shored
up that interoperability last month.
The agreement is one of the largest federated identity management deals to
date and comes during a week when several software makers are revising or
trotting out new ID management platforms. Oracle , Novell
and others unveiled
new products Wednesday at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference 2004 in San
Diego, Calif.
As it is in the IBM/Orange contract, the Liberty Alliance seems to be at the
center of the buzz. Earlier this week, Oracle and Intel joined
as sponsor members, giving the consortium two more large weapons
in its battle to beat Microsoft’s Passport product in the secure single
sign-on services game.
All of this means ID management software is gaining momentum, driven by
customer demand, according to analysts. The Radicati Group estimated that
the identity management software market will soar from $738 million
worldwide this year to $10.2 billion by 2008. Last year, the research firm
pegged the 2003 market size at $551 million, growing to $5 billion by 2007.
“As we offer more services to our large customer base, customers demand the
ease of having single sign-on across their mobile and ISP services,” said
France Telecom Vice President of Technologies Jean-Paul Maury.
In other ID management news, Vintela, which makes software that integrates
with Microsoft’s authentication and identity management platform, purchased
single sign-on software company Wedgetail Communications for an undisclosed
sum.
Vintela will absorb Wedgetail’s Kerberos-based single
sign-on capability for J2EE
Active Directory as the identity store.
Vintela said in a statement that while its current VAS product allows the
“trusted zone” normally associated with Windows platforms to be extended to
Unix, it will able to extend this “trusted zone” further to encompass J2EE
environments. The Wedgetail products will be re-launched under the
Vintela brand as Vintela Single Sign-on for Java (VSJ).
IBM Plucks Single Sign-On Deal With Orange
