Ping Identity, a provider of federated identity solutions for Web single sign-on (SSO) and identity-enabled Web services, announced the expansion of its PingFederate Integration Kit family to include both Windows Kerberos and Oracle/Oblix COREid. These new Integration Kits join Ping's existing family of adapters for Windows Login, Java and .NET applications, CA eTrust SiteMinder and Salesforce.com in providing turnkey first and last mile integration when configuring PingFederate to deliver Web SSO using SAML 1.x, SAML 2.0 and WS-Federation.

Federated identity allows one organization to accept identity information and authentication operations from another organization. With federation, users can sign-on once with a single username and password and access multiple Web applications running in many locations. Deploying an end-to-end federated single sign-on system requires first-mile integration with the system performing authentication (the Identity Provider or IdP) and last-mile integration with the target system being accessed (the Service Provider or SP).

Ping's new COREid Integration Kits support both version 6.x and 7.0 of COREid and allow it to act as both an IdP and a SP. The new Windows Kerberos Integration Kit allows users to single sign-on into Windows applications that uses Kerberos tickets for authentication. Like all Ping Integration Kits, these new products are protocol-independent in that they work with every federation protocol PingFederate uses when connecting with federation partners. They will be available for download from Ping's Web site in Q2 2006.

Most federated identity products are components of larger identity management suites. Sometimes, the federation technology only works if purchased along other suite components. While these products typically provide integration with the rest of their suite, they do not offer out-of-the-box integration with products from other vendors.

Ping Identity takes a different approach. Since Ping is not a suite vendor, it designed PingFederate to work with any identity management suite its customers may be deploying, whether that suite be a commercial product or homegrown. Furthermore, PingFederate works equally well for customers who do not have an identity management suite and who do not want to go through the time and expense of deploying one.