Enterprise application security is emerging as a distinct new line of business for Oracle, which has made some strategic acquisitions to help it move beyond its traditional database and business application markets.
"Oracle is not known as security vendor, but that is all changing in the wake of some key acquisitions that provide all the right standards-based components for delivering enterprise-wide application security in heterogeneous environments," says Patrick McLaughlin, Oracle`s regional security solutions director for EMEA.
McLaughlin is in SA as part of a regional tour to present the message, that following its recent acquisition of companies like Oblix, OctetString and Thor Technologies, Oracle has "a lot of the right stuff" on the security front, particularly identity management (IDM).
"Although IDM is an important part of the security story, unlike pure security products like firewalls, it has a lot of business drivers, such as helping create agile architectures and cutting costs," says McLaughlin.
An important part of Oracle`s security and middleware strategy, he says, is the recognition that customers want to get the most out of existing IT assets and are unwilling to throw out anything still in working order.
"Oracle`s IDM suite is aimed at enabling business organisations to manage user access to both old and new systems in a single uniform manner and is consequently an important component of Oracle`s fusion middleware and architecture for integrating heterogeneous IT environments."
Regarding the rationale behind the recent security company acquisitions, McLaughlin says Oracle had decided to bolster its existing identity management offering, having identified a need and market opportunity for a security sub-system to support new age technology, such as Web services.
"Oracle`s IDM suite provides a uniform security sub-system to control access to Web services to ensure only the right people have access to the information behind those services."
The demand for security around Web services is likely to increase, he says, as many companies begin to use the technology as a means cutting costs by delivering new services easily and repackaging old ones.
Using an authentication and authorisation framework that connected to third-party data and applications from Oblix, provisioning technology from Thor, and virtual directory technology from OctetString, Oracle`s new IDM suite is no longer restricted to it own systems, which McLaughlin says is key to Oracle`s emerging security business.
McLaughlin summarises by saying Oracle`s new security sub-system can easily fit into any IT environment. He says its components are available as separate line items that can be put into solutions by consultants or partners, which proves that Oracle`s security offerings are ready to mature into a separate line of business.
Related stories:
Ellison outlines new Oracle era
Oracle 'aggressive` on middleware
Share
