REDMOND, Wash., July 2, 2003 — Microsoft Corp. today announced support from leading industry systems integrators (SIs), independent hardware vendors (IHVs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) for its Microsoft®
Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS) and other identity management offerings. With this support, Microsoft is delivering a key element that represents a comprehensive and cost-effective identity management solution that will help customers reduce the cost, risk and complexity associated with managing end-user identities. MIIS, paired with broad industry support, will equip customers with the technologies and services they need today to effectively plan, implement and manage an end-to-end identity management strategy that conforms to their unique business needs.
“Customers look to us as a strategic partner that can help bring industry partner products and services together, making identity management solutions on the Windows® platform simple and cost-effective,”
said Bill Veghte, corporate vice president for the Windows Server (TM) Group at Microsoft.
“We inherently understand that the key to success for our customers comes from forging strong industry partnerships that deliver the needed technologies, services and support to back innovative new products such as MIIS.”
Interoperable Technologies and Comprehensive Services
Microsoft is working with a leading group of SIs, IHVs and ISVs that are delivering products and services that enable customer identity management solutions. All these industry partners are working with customers to implement successful identity management solutions based on Active Directory®
and new products introduced today (see related announcement,
“Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Released to Manufacturing”
).
Technologies from companies like Business Layers Inc., DigitalPersona Inc., M-Tech Information Technology Inc., Oblix Inc. and OpenNetwork Technologies have been designed to easily interoperate with Microsoft’s identity management offerings and to provide customers with well-integrated solutions that deliver a best-of-breed approach to solving identity management problems. In addition, many of the industry’s leading SIs, including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, ePresence Inc., Ernst & Young, Fujitsu Services, HP Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Unisys Corp., are working with Microsoft to deliver a full range of assessment, planning and implementation services.
Together, Microsoft and its industry partners are providing customers with a broad selection of solutions to help them realize better return on their investments through implementation of an identity management solution on the Windows platform.
About Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a comprehensive, integrated and secure infrastructure designed to help customers reduce costs and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of IT operations. Building on Windows 2000 family strengths, the new server platform helps customers extend existing resources while laying the foundation for building a new generation of connected applications that improve business productivity. Windows Server 2003 is the foundation for the Microsoft Windows Server System (TM) , an integrated server infrastructure for building, deploying and operating agile business solutions.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Windows, Active Directory, Windows Server and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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Industry Partner Support
“Business Layers is excited to support Microsoft’s identity management offering with the introduction of eProvision Microsoft Edition. We are now able to offer customers tight integration with Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 and other key Microsoft systems, on the industry’s only completely Microsoft-based product. Leveraging a wizard-driven installation as well as default policy and workflow templates for common scenarios, customers will see increased efficiency and rapid return on investment when using this solution.”
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David Lavenda
Vice President, Marketing and Product Strategy
Business Layers
“The Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Microsoft Global Alliance is a strategic relationship that combines technological and consulting expertise to solve the critical business problems of clients worldwide. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young sees Microsoft’s commitment to innovation around the identity management domain as a vitally important step. The deployment of Microsoft’s identity management software will enable real and substantial cost savings for many of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young’s customers around the world.”
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Bertrand Bouteloup
Global Security Product Manager
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
“DigitalPersona and Microsoft are working together to secure and centralize user authentication via Microsoft Active Directory and Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM). Customers deploying identity management solutions are demanding the inclusion of fingerprint recognition in order to tighten security and reduce the growing administrative costs and productivity burdens of password management practices.”
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Fabio Righi
CEO
DigitalPersona
“Our customers are striving to reduce the cost and complexity related to the disconnected application identity silos that exist within their organizations today. Through Microsoft Identity Management Solution Accelerator, Microsoft and ePresence are providing actionable best practices that help customers address their needs for identity and access management.”
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Scott Silk<
Senior Vice President and General Manager
ePresence
“Identity management is or should be one of the top concerns in enterprisewide security management, especially when viewed from a CSuite perspective. Ernst & Young is proud to team with Microsoft to help address this challenging and critical business issue.”
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Mark W. Doll
Americas Director of Security and Technology Solutions
Ernst & Young
“It is an exciting time for Microsoft to be releasing Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003, the latest version of its identity management tools. It allows enterprises to further realize the enormous benefits that come from implementing these solutions, such as people data integrity, greatly reduced administration costs, and security.”
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Mark Locke
Practice Head for Information Security
Fujitsu Services
“HP is one of the world’s largest integrator of Microsoft technologies and is a long-standing provider of services related to Microsoft Active Directory and Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003. HP is now expanding and extending this relationship to apply Microsoft’s emerging identity management components and capabilities.”
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Rick Delaney
Director, Microsoft Infrastructure
HP Services
“Our customers need solutions to help them better manage the identities of enterprise users. The cost, complexity and business impact of managing identity data for employees, contractors, vendors and other enterprise users has skyrocketed with the rapid increase in the number of systems, administration tools and processes. M-Tech’s solutions help organizations cope. M-Tech is committed to offering identity management solutions that integrate into existing customer infrastructure, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Active Directory and Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003.”
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Gideon Shoham
CEO
M-Tech
“Since 1996, Oblix and Microsoft have worked together to develop integrated solutions for enterprise customers that optimize the scalable and flexible identity management capabilities of Oblix NetPoint for the Windows platform. This integration helps customers build high-end, cost-effective identity management systems capable of handling millions of concurrent users across the extended enterprise, including employees, partners, customers and suppliers.”
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Gordon Eubanks
President and Chief Executive Officer
Oblix
“OpenNetwork and Microsoft share common goals for identity management: to deliver technology that will dramatically reduce the IT administrative burden and improve business processes in a nonintrusive manner. Our solution, Universal IdP, provides customers with the tightest native Microsoft technology support and integration and leverages all of its strongest benefits: scalability, performance and manageability. We also take those capabilities one step further by extending the benefits across platforms and domains in the most unified and manageable way.”
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Adrien Ransom
Vice President of Alliances
OpenNetwork
“Customers will benefit from our work with Microsoft in this space because it provides a proven end-to-end approach and the guidance necessary to remove the complexity associated with implementing an identity and access management solution.”
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Gary Loveland
Partner, Security and Privacy Practice
PricewaterhouseCoopers
“Web services create unique security challenges that require robust identity management (IdM) solutions. Our strategic alliance with Microsoft has resulted in the Unisys IdM Framework, which combines our expertise in IdM with Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 to provide a dynamic and flexible IdM solution that enhances enterprise security. The Unisys IdM Framework incorporates biometrics, smart card, directory services, access control, provisioning, workflow and PKI technology and implementation services, and is specifically targeted at the Microsoft environment.”
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Sunil Misra
Chief Security Advisor
Unisys
