Setting up Windows Native Authentication (with Kerberos) Single Sign-On (SSO) within WebLogic can be tricky. One way to accomplish this is to use IIS to front-end the WebLogic cluster. You need to use an IISIdentityAsserter in this scenario. Using an Identity Asserter based on HTTP headers has security implications and it’s important to ensure the communications are locked down between the IIS front-end to the WebLogic cluster. I don’t have much time to type more about this, but was excited about some recent work and wanted to get a quick post up in reference to this.

We have recently been working on and completed an entire Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g environment setup for a customer:

• Identity Management
• WebCenter (Framework and Services)
• SOA Suite
• UCM

This article is part of the recent work short blurb series.

A few of us have got some writer’s cramp (is there such a thing when typing?) from writing an excellent WebCenter 11g book.

We recently integrated Oracle IdM with the SAML SSO Service from Google Apps. Now customers can continue to authenticate against OID even while accessing Google Apps assets!

I’m registered and attending the Official Fusion Middleware 11g Launch in DC on July 1.

In early 2008, Oracle allowed you to enable WebCenter 11g and SOA 11g Tech Previews through the Oracle JDeveloper 11g Technology Preview.

At this point, mid-2009, this is somewhat outdated. The actual WebCenter 11g release (not available for download by Oracle) has quite an enhanced environment, features, etc. I don’t know the timing details exactly, but I imagine that the tech preview was put together before the BEA acquisition decisions were finalized and certainly before they were fully integrated.

WebCenter 11g should be a fantastic product taking the best of many Enterprise 2.0 products and services that Oracle has either acquired or partnered with.

Stay tuned for more information as releases get closer.

Ashok Aggarwal, a Partner at M&S Consulting has recently written a complete review of Oracle WebCenter Suite.  This has been published in a few major trade journals and websites. You can read the article at:

Oracle WebCenter Review - Framework, Web 2.0 Services, and SOA

Following are two excerpts from the article. The review goes into a fair amount of detail with Oracle WebCenter 10gR3:

When customers approach us to help them solve their business requirements, they often have a set of existing applications, both custom and purchased, that requires their end users to spend time moving from one system to the other. Even a simple task like approving a budget request, first requires the users to check existing committed budget allocations in spreadsheets or enterprise applications. Then they must visit a set of reports from their business analytics system to understand current spending levels. And finally, they need to correspond with the requestor to validate all the specifics of the proposal. All of these interactions require the end user to remember and interpret information from one system to the other. It is a key requirement to allow business users an easy way to link these different components in the context of the budgetary task they are trying to accomplish. Customers are looking for a way to share information with others in a faster, simpler and more dynamic way.

Oracle WebCenter is an integrated, standards-based, user interaction suite that includes a set of Web 2.0 services. WebCenter is used to develop task-oriented user experiences for transactional applications, composite SOAs, enterprise portals, and Web sites. It includes a pre-packaged infrastructure to enable content integration, content management, Web publishing, search, and application customizations. It allows for heterogeneous systems to be leveraged directly to integrate systems, documents, information, and processes into a common user interface. WebCenter enables people to share information within their enterprise using their Web 2.0 services, which include discussions, wiki pages, and RSS feeds. It also allows them to compose mashups and integrate presence, instant messaging, and Voice over IP (VOIP). Some people think of it as an enterprise framework and others feel it is a set of services. The reality is that it is both.

I have been involved in the Fusion Middleware 11g beta program as well as participating in other ways as a member of the Advisory Board for Oracle Portal and Oracle SOA Suite. Although I can’t say much at this time since not much has been publicized, I can tell you that there is some exciting new features coming for developers, administrators, and end-users.

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g will prove to be a very large release that is both deep and broad, covering major enhancements that really span the entire Fusion Middleware Suite. As more information becomes public (or I am authorized to share more), I will do so on this blog.

Until then, just get ready.

I have seen a bit of confusion in the industry about Oracle’s Portal offerings. Specifically, with thousands of Oracle Portal customers, people want to know what the introduction of WebCenter means to them.

Here is my statement on the topic, that is both obvious and the most realistic one you will get:

Oracle Portal and Oracle WebCenter Suite are different products.

I said it would be obvious. But this is an important foundation for the rest of the discussion, since many people want to convince themselves that WebCenter is essentially an upgrade of Oracle Portal. I believe the WebCenter offering to be more like Oracle acquiring another company and then determining the path for convergence. It is true that WebCenter can, and will, address some of the same business use cases as Portal as well as some new ones that Portal does not handle particularly well. It is also true that both products come out of essentially the same group within Oracle. Oracle, like many software companies, can, should, and does reinvent itself continually.

Oracle Portal, however, will not go anywhere, anytime soon. Oracle has an interesting challenge in their Portal product strategy with Portal and WebCenter. I believe Oracle would like to sink all their time and energy into WebCenter because:

1. WebCenter is their new, cool, reinvented product
2. WebCenter addresses some of the new challenges that enterprises need to address
3. WebCenter’s technology architecture is leading the industry, and lines up more closely with open standards than Portal
4. WebCenter has the potential to earn much more direct licensing revenue for Oracle

However there are a few factors that prevent this from simply displacing Portal:

1. Portal is used successfully by thousands of customers, many of whom have been using it for years
2. Portal does not require an organization to have talent with the latest skills sets to develop and maintain
3. Portal has become quite stable and understood over the years
4. Portal has powerful and compelling features that really do make sense for enterprises, at the right price point
5. Oracle provides prebuilt portlets for many of its products like Oracle Applications, Discoverer, and the BPEL Worklist

The lists for each side go on and on. However, the Oracle strategy is likely to simply see how customers and the industry embrace the products. We have all seen challenges Microsoft has faced (at least perceived) when rolling out new products, like Vista, and everyone scratches their heads wondering why those mistakes are made. Well, I think Oracle will be careful to manage perception as they have the unique ability to get existing and new customers very excited.