Centrify Extends Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services to Non-Microsoft Web Platforms9 July 2005
Centrify Corporation announced today at Microsoft Tech Ed Europe that it will deliver Web Single Sign-on (SSO) Agents running on non-Microsoft web platforms in support of Microsoft® Active Directory® Federation Services (ADFS). Available as part of the forthcoming Windows® Server 2003 R2 release, Microsoft ADFS is Microsoft’s federated identity management solution that enables distributed identification, authentication, and authorization across organizational and platform boundaries. Microsoft ADFS supports applications running on the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) platform, and Centrify is delivering the first solution that extends ADFS Web SSO Agent support to web-based applications running on non-Microsoft web platforms. Using the Centrify solution, web-based applications hosted on Apache and popular J2EE application servers including IBM® WebSphere®, BEA® WebLogic®, JBoss®, and Tomcat will support Microsoft ADFS without having to deploy any additional federated identity software.
“Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services brings distributed users, systems and applications together in a secure, trusted relationship,” said Michael Stephenson, Director of Windows Server Product Management of Microsoft Corporation. “Microsoft is pleased to partner with Centrify to help customers extend the use of Active Directory to their heterogeneous systems and applications, and now with Centrify’s support for Microsoft ADFS this interoperability has been extended to Web Single Sign-on federated identity management scenarios.”
This added capability that Centrify delivers to Microsoft ADFS is important for organizations that have a trusted relationship with other companies using a variety of web platforms and for consumers accessing a web site running on a web farm with multiple web servers and applications. Centrify DirectControl support for Microsoft ADFS also streamlines an organization’s management tasks by letting it use Active Directory (a technology it has already deployed) for federated identity and web SSO without having to change existing web platforms or adding a parallel federation solution that doubles the administrative overhead.
An organization can leverage the scalability and security of Active Directory as the authentication system of record for externally facing applications for all of its business-to-business portals and its business-to-consumer web sites.
Users benefit from cross-platform ADFS support because it is now possible to login once using their Active Directory credentials and then have direct access to both local and partner portals without having to re-authenticate to access the trusted partner’s site—even if that site is not running a Windows-based portal. Centrify expects this to be of significant interest in dealer-supplier scenarios where access to a third party’s portal is essential to doing business. DirectControl support for Microsoft ADFS also enhances consumers’ security by leveraging Active Directory as the authentication infrastructure to protect consumers’ credentials. This helps web site operators comply with privacy regulations.
“Because Active Directory is so pervasive, ADFS is going to make it easy and inexpensive for businesses to set up federated relationships that will make both their businesses and their partnerships more successful,” said David McNeely, Director of Product Management at Centrify Corporation. “With the addition of Centrify’s Web SSO agent non-Microsoft web applications will be able to seamlessly participate in these federations without having to deploy any additional federated identity management beyond the Microsoft and Centrify solution.”
Centrify DirectControl support for Microsoft ADFS will be a new component of the Centrify DirectControl suite, which is an identity, access and Group Policy management solution that integrates the capabilities of Microsoft Active Directory with mixed Microsoft Windows, UNIX® and Linux® environments, as well as Java and web-based applications. DirectControl support for Microsoft ADFS is installed as an agent on the web platform and provides the cross-platform equivalent of Microsoft’s ADFS Web Single Sign-on Agent for IIS. As far as Active Directory and the user are concerned, the web application behaves in the same way as an IIS server. Administrators can use the same configuration tools regardless of which platforms the applications are running on; no additional directory servers or infrastructure are required; and users have the same single sign-on experience whether they access a local resource or one at a trusted partner.
Availability
Centrify will release DirectControl support for Microsoft ADFS following Microsoft’s release of ADFS in Windows 2003 Server R2. An “Early Adopter” Program will start in the beginning of August 2005. Organizations interested in participating in the Centrify Early Adopter Program should contact Centrify at 650-961-1100 or visit http://www.centrify.com/ADFS.
About Centrify
Centrify is a leading provider of Active Directory-based identity, access and Group Policy management solutions for Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Java and web platforms. With its DirectControl suite, Centrify enables IT organizations to fully leverage Active Directory to significantly reduce administrative costs, strengthen security, improve end-user productivity, and comply with regulatory requirements. Founded in March 2004, Centrify is headquartered in Mountain View, California. To request an evaluation of the Centrify DirectControl suite, call (650) 961-1100 or visit www.centrify.com.
Centrify and DirectControl are trademarks of Centrify Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Source: PR Web
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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