Sun, Microsoft to End Silence About Product Integration Work

Computerworld - Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. plan to detail their initial product integration efforts late this month, focusing on directory services and single-sign-on capabilities.
Both sides confirmed the announcement plans last week, but only Sun officials would discuss any of the expected content. And they wouldn't disclose specifics about the directory and single-sign-on initiatives, which Sun previously identified as the most likely candidates for an initial interoperability demonstration.
The announcement will be watched with interest by users such as Lou Michael, director of core networks for the Arlington County, Va., government. Michael is considering replacing his PCs with Sun's Sun Ray thin-client devices. But one of the issues holding him back from moving off of Windows-based systems is his reliance on Microsoft's Active Directory.
Michael, whose network includes about 3,500 desktop and laptop PCs, said he doesn't want to have to support both Active Directory and Sun's Java Access Manager directory. "I'm hopeful that they will work together and integrate it," so either directory can handle both types of systems, Michael said.
He added, though, that he's skeptical about how deeply the two rivals will link their systems to each other's directories. His fear is that Sun and Microsoft may limit themselves to plans that accomplish integration at a high level but still require the use of both directories.
Microsoft and Sun settled an acrimonious legal dispute last spring and said they planned to integrate their products to make it easier for users to adopt technologies from both companies . Since then, the two vendors have said little about their progress. They missed a summer target set by Sun CEO Scott McNealy for detailing their initial collaborative work, and an October announcement promised by another Sun executive in September also failed to materialize.
Jim Desler, a Microsoft spokesman, said last week that the companies should be judged on what they accomplish "over the course of the next five to 10 years." Desler added that the seven months since the settlement deal was signed "have been very positive in terms of setting up the relationship in a way that will serve not only the companies but the industry and customers over the course of the long term."
Finding Time
Larry Singer, vice president of Sun's global information systems strategy office, said the two companies have been working on a variety of issues, including interoperability, joint initiatives and standards. "There's a lot going on," Singer said. "The big deal is negotiating dates for announcements."
But users, resellers and analysts said that without