Tools that manage App access

Oracle Corp. last week debuted new software that can be used to help grant -- or deny -- users access to information on PCs, and industry insiders told UPI's The Web the company's moves could provide momentum for a promising IT security concept.
The software tools are part of an emerging model called "federated identity," for which programmers are writing policies that discern the type of data each user can view and enforce that access with passwords or other identification requirements, such as biometrics.

The new software tools, called Security Developer Tools, are based on specifications written by the OASIS SAML and the Liberty Alliance Project. They enable companies to grant select customers and partners access to certain files -- and keep them out of files they don't want them to view -- via the Internet.

Rival Sun Microsystems also has developed a system-access-management technology. IBM, Microsoft and BEA Systems have been incorporating federated-identity concepts into their software as well.

Moreover, through the Liberty Alliance Project, about 150 other companies are working on SAML 2.0-based interoperability for federated-identity solutions and Web-based identity services, including the Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute, Ericsson, Novell, Oracle, Reactivity, Sun Microsystems, Symlabs and Trustgenix.

"It's all about the reality of products that work together in actual deployments," said Earl Perkins, vice president of Gartner Inc., a research consultancy.

Other developers are building new viewer-access tools as well, though less broad in scope than the projects initiated by Oracle and industry consortia. For example, developers have created applications, such as "for my eyes only printing," which enable users to print confidential documents.

"If a user prints a confidential document, the printer will cue the print request, but will not actually print the job until the user is standing at the printer and authenticates the request," said Jeremy Kartcher, a spokesman for Silex Technology America Inc., a software and hardware developer in Salt Lake City.

Oracle said in a statement that companies, particularly in the financial-services sector, could use federated-identity solutions to create a "competitive advantage" for themselves. For example, if a firm has secure access to a supplier ordering management applications, a sales representative can log on to a supplier's network, then inform the customer about the exact status of a pending order.

With distributed computing, companies can expect to communicate between an array of software programs. Because much of the communication happens over the Internet, there are possible security threats, from malicious hackers to viruses to probes by intelligence-seeking rivals.

The move into federated-identity tools is a significant part of Oracle's middleware strategy and includes products such as Oracle Application Server 10g, Oracle Identity Management, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Oracle Data Hubs.

The company's $5.8 billion acquisition last week of rival Siebel Systems is seen by close industry watchers as a way to expand on the applications side of its business, while the Redwood Shores, Calif., company develops middleware applications organically.

"With this latest acquisition, Oracle is now in a position to set its sights on SAP, which now finds itself with a minority market share of 6.7 percent in the CRM space," said Chris Boring, vice president of marketing at Aplus.Net, a Web-hosting developer and consultant in San Diego.

Boring cautioned, however, that by chasing SAP, Oracle leaves itself vulnerable on other fronts.

"While the two are locked in battle over this space, opportunities may open up for the open source and Web services players to garner market share," he said.

http://www.physorg.com/news6651.html

Oracle: 25% of LatAm bank clients on Fusion Middleware by year-end - Regional

US database solutions developer Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) expects to end this fiscal year with about 20-25% of its Latin America banking clients using Fusion Middleware products, Oracle Financial Services director Luis Arturo Díaz told BNamericas.

Fusion Middleware is the mechanism Oracle uses for talking between different components that may be from rival suppliers or its own subsidiaries, and the ultimate goal in the banking sector is to eliminate fragmentation of systems and platforms, integrating front office and back office systems.

By integrating the applications of recent acquisitions such as Retek and PeopleSoft, as well as companies such as i-Flex and Siebel, which are set to become subsidiaries, Oracle is going through a consolidation phase that the banks themselves need to go through, Díaz said.

Oracle plans to maintain the brand names of its acquisitions, chairman Charles Phillips said this week at a company event in Orlando, and according to Díaz, Oracle will continue to issue new versions of these subsidiaries' products until 2013.

From that year on, new products will only be in the mold of the Project Fusion plan announced this week, and will combine the best aspects of each component. The lifetime support pledge, also announced this week, means Oracle will always continue to support products issued prior to that date, the company says.

I-FLEX OWNERSHIP CHANGE

i-Flex is a financial services specialist and Oracle's plan to buy 41% from Citigroup (NYSE: C) plus 20% from private shareholders is particularly important for Díaz's division. The deal is still undergoing approval processes, which should end in December, he said.

The unit will continue to operate as an independent company, producing its own products, although Oracle will make the most of that technology.

"Independently of this deal we have been working with i-Flex for a year or so, in next generation core banking, to integrate its Flexcube offering in our range of services," Díaz said.

This would combine the functionalities of Middleware, Oracle 10g, its classic database solutions and its BPEL business process management technology. Some specific client needs may be to integrate Flexcube with Oracle GL, core banking systems with Oracle procurement platform, or core banking with BPEL services, Díaz added.

"This will benefit our established clients primarily, such as Banco de Chile, which is already a customer of both suppliers. There are also some clients in Venezuela in this category," he added.

The technological advantage is that there are fewer interfaces, new modules can be incorporated faster and there is more efficient use of investments, according to Oracle.

MARKET SHARE

Once the Siebel acquisition and i-Flex ownership deal go through almost all Latin American banks will be using some kind of technology related to Oracle, compared to more than 70% at the end of Oracle's last fiscal year in March, Díaz said.

Acquisitions apart, Oracle's market share in Latin America's banking sector grew 15% in the fiscal year ended on March 31, partly because of a drive on the part of the banks to upgrade their applications, Díaz said. This is a growth trend that Oracle expects to continue in its current fiscal year, he added.

"The idea is to help clients transition [through whatever upgrades they may seek] as smoothly as possible, without forcing them to upgrade before they're ready," Díaz said.

http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=1¬icia=330218&idioma=I

Oracle Financial Services Executive Forum

Venue: Sheraton, Riyadh
Country: Saudi Arabia


Start date: Sunday, December 11 - 2005
End date: Sunday, December 11 - 2005


A unique opportunity to learn techniques and best practices on how to capture, measure, and use customer information to drive better business practices and increase profitability by channel and customer profile. Gain additional working capital by understanding how to manage and model potential capital strategies. Learn how Basel II compliance can help improve visibility and control, mitigate operational risk, and achieve higher risk-adjusted returns on equity. Discover how Oracle solutions for Basel II help financial institution grow stronger through compliance.

Special Announcement: OAUG FIN-SIG Meeting 18th Sept 2005, San Francisco

Oracle Applications User Group, Financial Services Industry, Special Interest Group (OAUG FIN-SIG)

Special Announcement: OAUG FIN-SIG Meeting 18^th Sept 2005, San Francisco

Date/Time: Sunday 18^th September, 2005 (9:10am-12:30pm PST)

Venue : Room 3006 Moscone West

Moscone Convention Center (Oracle OpenWorld 2005)

San Francisco, CA

Agenda :

09:10-09:20 Welcome Note: Greg Fitzgerald, Ohio Savings Bank (FIN-SIG Enhancements Chair)

Introductions and review of recent FIN-SIG activity. Distribution of the second FIN-SIG Survey. Results to be shared at end of SIG Meeting

09:25-09:55 Keynote Address -Trends and Best Practices in Financial Services: V Senthil Kumar, CEO, i-flex Solutions b.v. , and VP, Marketing & Alliances, i-flex Solutions Limited

i-flex provides comprehensive IT solutions exclusively to the financial services industry. It has serviced over 570 customers in over 115 countries through a portfolio of products and services. These include packaged applications (encompassing consumer banking, corporate banking, investor servicing, asset management for mutual funds, internet delivery of financial services, business analytics and risk management), custom application software development, and, business and IT consulting services.

V Senthil Kumar leads i-flex operations in Europe, and also carries worldwide responsibility for Marketing and Alliances at i-flex. He devotes a large portion of his efforts in development of strategies which would enable i-flex effectively address the needs of financial institutions in the future. In this session Senthil would be speaking on some of the emerging trends in the financial services industry, as seen by i-flex.

10:00-10:30 Oracle Family Roadmap for FSI: Anita Brady, Sr. Director, Oracle Corporation

With the acquisition of PeopleSoft, Retek, TimesTen and many more solutions relevant for the financial services industry, this session will provide you an insight into Fusion and the Oracle strategy for the next few years as it relates to users in Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets. Apart from her responsibility as Sr. Director, Financial Services Product Development Strategy, Anita is also the current Oracle Liaison for the OAUG FIN-SIG

10:40-11:10 Oracle and TimesTen - enabling the Real-Time World: Tim Shetler, VP-Product Marketing TimesTen (now part of Oracle Corporation)

TimesTen brings a proven track record to time-critical industries and real-time enterprises with products that have been powering production systems since 1998 in networks, telecom services, operational support systems, contact centers, airline and reservation systems, and securities trading applications. Over 1,500 companies around the globe use TimesTen technology in real-time applications to increase customer loyalty and new customer acquisition, streamline operations, and avoid the costly alternative of proprietary software development.

11:15-11:40 Case Study from Financial Services: Samir Singh, GECIS Global (FIN-SIG Communications Chair)

Obtain insight including some useful tips and techniques from the project team that implemented Oracle at one of the largest financial services institutions.

11-45-12:05 Announcement of results of FIN-SIG Survey: Joseph Alldred, Wachovia Bank (FIN-SIG Secretariat)

12:10-12:30 Open House & Close: Subhojit Roye iGATE Global (FIN-SIG Coordinator)

Oracle Agrees to Buy Siebel for $10.66 a Share

Vaults Oracle to Number 1 in Customer Relationship Management

http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_sep/monrls.html