Identity management can also be used to deliver location-based services to mobile devices, Gates said. Sun is already working with Germany's Deutsche Telekom to offer identity management for the operator's 80 million users.
Gates expects Deutsche Telekom and other European operators to start rolling out location-based services in the near future, allowing them to send users text messages telling them where the closest coffeehouse or theater is, for example.
Sun's identity business has grown substantially in recent quarters in terms of both revenue and new customers, Gates said, making it an important strategy area for the Santa Clara, California, company.
But while Gates emphasized that Sun wants to help companies address broad identity management needs, closer cooperation with Microsoft to provide joint customers with seamless identity management is not in the cards. Although the former rivals entered a surprise cooperation accord last year, saying they will allow information to be more easily shared between Microsoft's Active Directory and Sun's Java System Identity Server identity management products, there has been no word about further collaboration in the identity area.
"We are of two minds," Gates said. "We stand together on standards and interoperability -- we are working behind the scenes and it's taking time -- but we are competitors."
Sun plans to continue taking a leading role in identity management, Gates said, despite efforts by other big vendors to become more active in the area. Oracle, for example, purchased identity management technology developer Oblix last month so it could integrate Oblix's security software into its infrastructure products. Gates didn't see the move as a threat, saying that application providers like Oracle are focused on providing identity management for their own products, unlike Sun whose strategy is to target heterogenous environments.
"Oracle and the other big application providers are used to seeing themselves as the center of a universe. Our strategy is to offer identity management for everyone," Gates said.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts
This white paper provides guidance on how to develop a strategic approach to managing and monitoring logs, a key function required for compliance with many regulatory mandates and a critical defense against security threats.
Download now! »
Learn about the processes and technologies that support security information management (SIM) operations, as well as the business case for SIM. The series examines different options for implementing SIM and gives you evaluation criteria for selecting the best option for your organization.
Download now! »
Learn the strategies, actions, and capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations employ and technologies they choose to obtain superior performance against various security performance metrics. This report provides guidelines for identifying which security solutions to consume as a MSS and defines best practices for choosing and managing MSSPs.
Download now! »
Recommend This
