Where oh Where will MySQL go?

Well it's been just over a day since the announcement of the Oracle/Sun announcement. A lot has been said about the match, some good, some bad. Most note (as did I) that the Java and Hardware additions to Oracle are a plus and that there's a bit of overlap.

One of the most interesting elements of overlap is MySQL.

Sun and Oracle have been going tit-for-tat with acquisitions going back to Waveset/Thor a couple of years ago in the IdM space. Oracle has been doing the same thing with SAP trying to build its own version of NetWeaver and an ERP suite. Now all three companies have the same basic arsenal of products with their own specialties:

1. Sun offers both hardware/OS layers, Java, and is the Elder statesman of the IAM space
2. Oracle offers the database and is showing great momentum in the IdM and ERP spaces
3. SAP offers an ERP suite with tight integration via NetWeaver

I can't see that regulators will allow Oracle to hold onto MySQL while they hold the lion's share of the database market (44.3%) Given this I wonder what Oracle plans to do with MySQL. They could move it back to open source and set up an independent organization to manage it, but this does not seem to mesh with the Oracle Corporate Culture, which has not been historically been keen on open source.

My thinking is that SAP should try to acquire it and I wonder why they did not make a try at this before. My SQL is already the basis for MaxDB and would address a major missing piece of the SAP architecture. Being able to control both the front and back end of the SAP solution set would offer a new level of cohesion for NetWeaver and place it on a more equal footing with Oracle. However, I don't foresee a direct transaction to occur between Oracle and SAP. Look for the spin off to occur and SAP to make the acquisition as soon as they think they can get away with it.

I don't think SAP will pass on this opportunity a second time.

First thoughts on Sun/Oracle

Wow. There's a lot to consider here. On the macro level, I can't see this as a bad thing for Oracle. A hardware stack, ownership of Java, Solaris...

On the other hand, there would appear to be some significant overlap, databases, ERP, IdM...

I think there's going to be a lot of CIOs, CFOs and CEOs who are going to be looking at where they should go now. Taking a very high level look from the IAM/ERP perspective, is this the right time to ditch the current infrastructure and:

• Embrace their ERP vendor and solidify the environment
• Embrace their OS vendor and get everything on one OS
• Embrace their hardware vendor and get everything on one platform
• Embrace Open Source and junk the whole corporate nightmare
• Embrace individual point solutions and get best of breed solutions

There's lots of ways to look at this. The one thing I know for sure is that it's way too early to make any determinations. I agree with Jackson Shaw's thoughts on this in that it is indeed a dog's breakfast and will take at least 18 months to figure out. Also kudos to him for coming up with a quick and witty one liner to describe the situation.

Web UI Password Troubleshooting

I was setting up a NW IDM 7.0 SP2 Patch 5 test system yesterday and had the strangest problem. Workflow and Monitoring passwords were not being accepted. I could not log into Workflow and altough I could get into Monitoring, clicking on any link presented me with an error that I was not logged in and would be redirected to the login screen.

Now being an old hand at setting up 7.0 and previous versions I went through and checked all the obvious, IIS, permissions, PHP version.

I had some trouble initially getting PHP running but since it was now running, I did not think it could be PHP.INI, particularly since I just went through and compared it to a working PHP.INI. However since not hing else was working, I decided to take another look.

Sure enough, the path for the session directory was incorrectly specified. Changed the path, double checked the privileges and cleared all cache folders and IE cache just in case (paranoia can be a good thing sometimes) and all was fine.

Just thought I'd share...

The Next Frontier?

Identity Management continues to find a space in the Enterprise landscape. It would seem that it's been falling into the realm of Information Security. Not sure that I completely agree with this but at least it's being discussed as part of Enterprise Architecture.

Certain business verticals in particular have been embracing this technology more than others. Most notably, Higher Education has been a big proponent of Identity Management (Gotta give it to Oracle's OIM/Fusion Middleware, they're doing well here right now.) As I think about other verticals, it strikes me that it's about time that the Health Care industry embrace, IdM.

Why so, you might ask? Here's a few of my reasons:

• HIPAA -- How can you discuss the Health Care field and not talk about HIPAA? Strict access controls, need for compliance, monitoring of changes to accounts? All easily done by IdM. Advances in GRC apps will make even more of a splash.
• Lots of changes -- Permanent staff, temps, students, visiting professionals means there are lots of changes in the user community, topped with vendors, contractors, patients and visitors makes it seem to me that this should be captured and recorded. Virtual Directories will be key in maintaining these user communities.
• Identity is more than people -- Role management will also be important for business and technical roles. The better we track how these roles are created and maintained, the easier it will be to administer them.
• Physical Access management -- Hospitals by nature are intended to be secure, so including means of physical access management will be important, either through "smart cards", biometrics or a combination of both.

I'll be thinking more about this in the coming weeks and months, what about you? Anyone out there doing this in a medical/hospital facility? What are you doing?

Other thoughts on Implementation

I liked what Ash Motiwala had to say on his blog recently on the topic of Implementation. Ash is a guy who's been around the IdM block a couple of times and what he has to say clearly proves it.

The only thing I might add to this is that a good pilot can be a lead in to Phase I. Additionally, good background work in the form of Business Analysis and Architecture design goes a long way as well.