Oblix Launches Federated ID Management Software

The company's new NetPoint SHAREid promises to obviate the need for a given employee to remember multiple passwords, even as he passes from his internal company sites to secure sites of suppliers and customers for which he has authorization. The software supports the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), an XML-based framework that ensures secure communication.

Such federated identity management could solve a problem in the increasingly interconnected world of manufacturing and commerce, where employees not only need access to their own employer's information but to inventory and other secure information from suppliers and customers.

Oblix said it already has several large customers, including Southwest Airlines and the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) group.

"The whole idea of identity management, specifically SAML, is to allow or enable our clients or any business to reduce the administration costs of authenticating and authorizing users and their systems," said Jeff Everage, senior manager for New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers' security practice, who is familiar with Oblix's offering.

Competitors in identity management include computing giant IBM, as well as Netegrity and others.

For a limited time, Oblix is offering a 500-user implementation, including testing and training, for a $60,000 fixed fee. The software is available now.