Today is the day: Oracle + Sun = Exciting Days Ahead

Well, it’s finally here. After months and months of delay, Oracle announced it finalized its acquisition of Sun.

It took so long, I think of lot of people thought this day was just a mirage. And unfortunately, the delay has cost us (in the identity management team) the opportunity to work with some great folks like Eve Maler and Pat Patterson. But now it is done, and the real work can begin as we start to lay out exactly how the IAM suites of the two companies – arguably the best in the business – will come together. It isn’t going to be easy, and our emphasis on our customers means that it can’t be quick, but the result should be great. In the Oracle+Sun strategy update this morning, Thomas Kurian gave the following overview on the Identity Management product strategy:

• Oracle Identity Management Suite continues as the strategic family of products, but Oracle will continue to invest in and share technology between Sun and Oracle products
• Both Oracle Internet Directory (OID) and Sun Directory Server will be supported, with common LDAP administration through our DS Management tools. Oracle will continue to maintain OpenDS
• Sun Role Manager will become Oracle Identity Analytics, the strategic identity analytics tool
• Oracle Identity Manager, Oracle Access Manager, Oracle Virtual Directory, Oracle Entitlements Server and Oracle Identity Federation continue as Oracle’s strategic products for their respective areas, with technology incorporated from Sun
• Oracle will invest in Sun Identity Manager and integrate it with Oracle Identity Manager
• Oracle will also invest in Sun OpenSSO and integrate it with OAM

Of course, the devil is in the details, and I expect that the coming weeks and months are going to be a little crazy as those details are laid bare. Planning has been going on for a while, and now those plans can finally be communicated and the ramifications thrashed out. That should provide a fair amount of fodder for discussion in the blogosphere and twittersphere (so stay tuned). I’ll try to provide some information here as and when it can be made public.

And a warm welcome to all my new colleagues from Sun. Buckle in for what should be a very interesting ride. I’ll be at Oracle HQ in a couple of weeks to participate in some of the planning and discussions that will be happening. So if you will be around, then lets meet up.