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Sun Doubles Down on Identity Management

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 June 2004, 06:00 CDT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SHANGHAI, China, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- During its second quarterly Network Computer '04 launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. , announced a comprehensive set of products and alliances to power its position in the $4 billion* identity management market. The new Sun identity management product line is one of the most open, modular and integratable solutions on the market and includes: the Sun Java(TM) System Identity Manager, the Sun Java System Access Manager and the Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition. In addition, Sun has established relationships with Deloitte & Touche LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers to support the deployment of these new identity management products.

"Effective identity management is the single most important enabler of the networked economy and arguably one of the largest market opportunities," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer at Sun. "Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, Homeland Security initiatives and a variety of European Union privacy regulations are directing IT investments as the foundation of compliance, safety and good governance -- while the growing value of an authenticated user and customer are defining new market opportunities, available only to those with the infrastructure to authenticate and manage them."

Sun's Identity Management Portfolio

Sun Java System Identity Manager, Sun Java System Access Manager and Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition are the three new identity management products, that combine Sun's deep technology expertise with industry-leading software acquired from Waveset Technologies.

The Java System Identity Manager is the first product on the market to combine user provisioning and meta-directory capabilities -- a trend analysts have been predicting. Java System Identity Manager securely manages both identity permissions and profiles, while also providing synchronization services for identities across the enterprise. The Java System Access Manager is designed to help customers manage secure access to both internal and external web-based resources. With the introduction of the Java System Access Manager, Sun will lead the industry in the support of federation standards, including both Liberty Phase 2 and SAML 1.1 specifications. The Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition, a central repository for storing enterprise identity information, is the first to deliver enterprise-level services such as built-in fail-over, load-balancing, security and integration with Microsoft Active Directory -- yet another proof-point in Sun and Microsoft's commitment to work together on interoperability in order to enable better network services compatibility.

Alliances: Key to Success

A key component to Sun's identity management strategy is the relationships it has formed with leading professional services firm Deloitte & Touche LLP and systems integration, consulting, and advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, to support the design, customization and deployment of identity management solutions for major customers worldwide.

"At Deloitte & Touche LLP, we have been predicting increased convergence between metadirectory, directory management, and provisioning technologies for the past two years," said John Clark, Deloitte & Touche LLP Security Services principal. "Sun's new product announcement and future product vision is a positive step in that direction. We are pleased to work with Sun to deliver strategic offerings, such as the Employee LifeCycle Management solution, around the Java Identity Suite, to address our clients' business challenges in the area of Identity Management."

"PricewaterhouseCoopers recognizes the importance of identity management to our customers," said Brad Bauch, principal, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Working closely with leading technology vendors like Sun Microsystems allows us to help our clients achieve a secure and high performance IT infrastructure."

With its identity management products, Sun is offering customers a high degree of freedom in designing their identity infrastructure. Sun offers packaged integration with over 60 partner-supplied enterprise resources to provide end-to-end compatibility with third-party components and existing investments. Sun also supports operating platforms including: Solaris(TM) Operating System, Linux, Microsoft Windows, HP-UX, IBM AIX and IBM OS/390 and enterprise software environments including: BEA Systems, Entrust Technologies, IBM, Microsoft, Netegrity, Novell, Oblix, OpenNetwork, Oracle Corporation, PeopleSoft, RSA Security and SAP.

"Managing and controlling access to our systems and information is critical to our business processes. We have successfully deployed Sun's identity management solutions and believe they are on target with their product strategy," said Zulfi Ahmed, vice-president & chief information security officer for Caremark Rx, Inc. "I applaud Sun's continuing commitment to support a wide array of third-party platforms, as this is necessary to support identity management in the large enterprise today."

Availability

Scheduled to ship in July 2004, Sun's identity management products are available as separately purchased components, designed to meet a customer's unique requirements. Pricing for Sun identity management solutions varies depending on the particular products customers deploy and the complexity of their environment. For more information on Sun identity management products go to http://www.sun.com/identity_mgmt.

Tune-in to the NC04Q2 web event at http://www.sun.com/nc26. Go to http://www.sun.com/sncasia2004 for up-to-the-minute information live from the SunNetwork Conference in Shanghai.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com/ . Subscribe to Sun newswire at http://sun.com/news .

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Jacki DeCoster

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

408-276-5258

jacki.decoster@sun.com

Trisha Cousins

Citigate Cunningham

415-618-8721

tcousins@citigatecunningham.com

*Source: IDC projects the identity management market will grow at a rate of 32% annually for the next few years & reach $4 billion by 2007.

NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun log, Java, Solaris, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

CONTACT: Jacki DeCoster of Sun Microsystems, Inc., +1-408-276-5258, orjacki.decoster@sun.com; or Trisha Cousins of Citigate Cunningham,+1-415-618-8721, or tcousins@citigatecunningham.com, for Sun Microsystems,Inc.

Web site: http://sun.com/

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