Honestly, this was not timed and I actually had a different topic to discuss for #15 of 26 Short Topics but this cool news today.  F5 and Oracle have announced plans to unify access management for web applications.  Press release can be found here.  The solution will combine F5’s BIG-IP system with Oracle Access Manager to enhance single sign-on (SSO) capabilities and simplify access control.

The Authentication Alternatives Today

Code in the Application

• Costly, difficult to change 
• Not repeatable
• Decentralized
• Less secure

Agents on servers

• Difficult to administer
• Interoperability
• Decentralized
• Less Secure

Specialized Access Proxies

• Don’t scale as well
• Often inferior reliability
• More boxes for network operations

A Better Alternative: BIG-IP and OAM

• The solution is to replace the OAM Proxy with BIG-IP.
• Gain superior scalability and high availability
• Benefit from F5’s Unified Application Delivery Services

Benefits of Oracle OAM & F5 BIG-IP Integration

• Reduced TCO and dramatically lowers deployment risk and streamlines operational efficiencies.
• Integration with OAM Single Sign-On (SSO) for superior end-user experience and enhanced user productivity
• Unified point of enforcement to simplify auditing and control changes in configuring application access settings

Unifying application delivery and web access management. 

Availability in 1H2010 – More to come soon!

ps

• #15 out of 26 Short Topics about Security
• previous stories: 14, 13.5, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1