Identity Crisis Resolved: Sun ONE Platform for Network Identity provides solid solutions to the decade's defining issue

12.Mar.02--Network Identity is the foundation for highly personalized and targeted next-generation web services. Taking full advantage of the promise of Internet-based transactions requires the ability to protect information assets and secure relationships with customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. This requires the fusion of network security and authentication, user provisioning and customer management, single sign-on technologies, and Web services delivery.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. is helping companies get there with the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) Platform for Network Identity. It is a combined software, hardware, and services offering for enterprises to rapidly establish a secure end-to-end, open network identity infrastructure today, and a federated identity solution that will support the emerging Liberty Alliance specification when it becomes available.

The Identity Crisis

Without a comprehensive Network Identity system, an enduring, unique relationship with customers is difficult to maintain. And in the current economic climate, knowing your customers better than your competitors do is a huge advantage.

Today, however, consumers must establish a new and separate identity with each company they do business with. Whether buying a book online, using an auction site, making a travel reservation, or opening a bank account, consumers provide the same information over and over again. Preferences are tracked and stored separately. Unifying this vast collection of dispersed data could give consumers more control and better service.

For enterprises, a comprehensive solution for identity, authentication, and authorization will help lower costs, provide new revenue opportunities, and increase customer satisfaction.

The Solution

The Sun ONE Platform for Network Identity provides the foundation for building a network identity infrastructure. Based on open standards, the Sun ONE platform is designed for ease of integration, offering the flexibility required to meet each company's particular needs. The Network Identity solution will help companies:

• Increase operational efficiencies without compromising security
• Increase the degree of personalization and active consumer management, leading to stronger customer relationships
• Increase the speed and breadth of product and service offerings

Two solutions are available now to enable enterprises to establish network identity systems in just five days.

To help customers rapidly implement the Sun ONE Platform for Network Identity, Sun Professional Services offers the Architecture Workshop for Network Identit, the first step in helping customers understand how to align their business strategy with a network identity solution. Also available are assessment, security, identity management, and iPlanet-specific services to help customers architect a complete network identity solution.

Get Your Network Identity House in Order

There are specific actions, assessments, and methodologies Sun recommends companies take today to implement Network Identity models that will materially impact the way they do business, and to enable new identity-enabled services tomorrow. Sun defines six steps on the road to a complete Network Identity infrastructure.

Companies will begin to see the benefits of the process well before full deployment of an identity system. As identity management is centralized, savings will accrue in application administration and development costs. Systems security will be enhanced as access points are unified with policy-based rules. In fact, why wait?

Start now.

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