CATALYST PRODUCT POTPOURRI

By John Fontana and Ellen Messmer
Network World, 07/23/01

In addition to the conference proceedings, several vendors will be making announcements at The Burton Group's annual Catalyst Conference this week in San Diego.

Netegrity will explain its strategy to support both Microsoft's .Net and Sun's ONE Web services platforms in an XML-based access control product called TransactionMinder 1.0, slated for release in the first quarter of next year.

According to Jim Dusharme, Netegrity director of development, TransactionMinder is intended to supplement the simpler password-based authentication detailed in the .Net and ONE architectures by adding Netegrity's authorization and policy-based access controls.

Netegrity's existing SiteMinder product for Web-access control already provides such policy-based mechanisms for security.

Netegrity also plans to adhere to industry XML specifications for authorization, such as those under development by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards and VeriSign, which earlier this year introduced XML Key Management System for Web Services.

"We're the Switzerland of security," Dusharme says. "We'll work with them all."

IPlanet will introduce products that dovetail with the show's directory and security theme. The iPlanet Directory Server Access Management Edition 5.0, which is slated to ship by year-end, will provide identity management and access control. It also includes a policy engine that will enable single sign-on. In addition, iPlanet will unveil a new metadirectory called Integration Edition 5.0 and the Directory Server Resource Kit for building applications based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Quest Software will unveil Spotlight for Active Directory, which offers real-time monitoring and diagnostic tools. The monitoring engine is provided through integration with NetPro's Directory Analyzer.

Also at the conference, Oblix will introduce Oblix Publisher 5.0, which lets users within an e-commerce environment search and graphically view resources found within an LDAP directory.

Business Layers will announce that petroleum company Chevron is in the process of deploying one of the largest implementations of e-provisioning software. The software will streamline the allocation of user accounts and access to business applications for 31,000 users. The system is built on Business Layers' Day One software and IBM's SecureWay Directory.