Collaboration Pays OffCollaboration Pays Off

Sun and Microsoft's truce bears fruit as the vendors develop ID-management protocols.

Charles Babcock, Editor at Large, Cloud

May 13, 2005

1 Min Read
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Sun Microsystems and Microsoft engineers have collaborated on two single-sign-on protocols that they're ready to submit to standards bodies. Versions of Microsoft Active Directory and Sun's Directory Server, expected out next year, will incorporate the new protocols, said Sun CEO Scott McNealy and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a joint press conference last week.

The protocols are called Web Single Sign-On Interoperability Profile and Web Single Sign-On Metadata Exchange. They will let a Web-browser user log on to Microsoft Active Directory and gain access to resources requiring a Sun Directory Server logon, and vice versa. The directories recognize the user ID and authentication measures of both the Sun-led Liberty Alliance and Microsoft's WS-Federation, two groups working on federated identity-management standards.

Results show year's effort, said McNealy (left, with Ballmer).

The two CEOs said the protocols were the leading result of a 12-month effort to make their products more interoperable. "Basically, we've done a good first year's work," McNealy said.

The collaboration is supposed to continue over a 10-year agreement arrived at April 2, 2004, in which Microsoft paid Sun $1.9 billion to settle their outstanding suits and legal differences.

McNealy said the collaboration, led by Sun chief technology officer Greg Papadopolous and Microsoft chief software architect Bill Gates, will focus next on WS-Management, a specification for managing Windows and Solaris systems from a single management console.

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About the Author

Charles Babcock

Editor at Large, Cloud

Charles Babcock is an editor-at-large for information and author of Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution, a McGraw-Hill book. He is the former editor-in-chief of Digital News, former software editor of Computerworld and former technology editor of Interactive Week. He is a graduate of Syracuse University where he obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism. He joined the publication in 2003.

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