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Oracle Releases Oracle Application Access Controls Governor 8.0

Oracle has announced the availability of Oracle Application Access Controls Governor Release 8. It is the latest release of the company's application access control solution that enables compliance, audit and security officers to automatically enforce authorization policies across Oracle and non-Oracle systems, and is a key component of the Oracle GRC applications suite, a portfolio of solutions that combine GRC intelligence, process and content management, and controls enforcement.

“What's unique about this particular release is number-one for the first time ever, it provides heterogeneous platform support,” Chris Leone, group vice president of application development for GRC, Oracle, told 5 Minute Briefing.

Oracle Application Access Controls Governor Release 8 provides best-practice segregation of duties policy libraries for Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise and Oracle E-Business Suite to natively embed real-time preventive controls within the applications. Additionally, the release leverages a services-oriented adapter framework and integration templates that extend capabilities to non-Oracle applications, providing end-to-end access control across heterogeneous application environments.

“A customer can manage all of their segregation of duties policies in a single environment and deploy those policies in each one of those systems or manage them across those systems,” said Leone. “Customers don't want to have to replicate different policies across different applications so now they have the ability to centralize their policy definition but they can enforce them in each one of the applications. It is a really unique capability.”

Oracle Application Access Controls Governor provides a sophisticated access policy engine that supports fine-grained controls authoring and handling, to ensure that access policies are applied within their proper business context, thereby reducing any impact on daily business operations and minimizing unnecessary detection and remediation cycles resulting from false positives.

Additionally, a central work queue console includes contextual reports with embedded heat maps to enable more rapid identification and remediation of conflicts. Compliance and security officers can leverage pre-delivered embedded analytics that trace exceptions back to their root sources, along with advanced simulation capabilities to quickly and accurately diagnose exceptions.

Oracle Application Access Controls Governor combines the best practice capability to manage segregation of duties as well as the capability to prevent segregation of duty violations in the application, noted Leone. “We support both preventive controls and detective controls, which nobody else offers in the market.” For more information, go here.

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Boston SoftDesign Announces Wiki Collaboration Software for Oracle DBA Activities

Boston SoftDesign (BSD), which provides offshore and domestic DBA solutions to Oracle functional and technical partners, announced a new Wiki-based collaboration tool that serves as a central repository and record for all DBA functions and activities. With the tool, which has been dubbed, “The Whole Megillah,” patch logs and procedures are kept in an online wiki and are edited and updated as necessary. “Megillah” is the Hebrew word for scroll and “the whole megillah” is slang to describe stories and events in which where every detail is included.

“This allows companies to take a team approach to migrations and upgrades,” Myles Halsband, the director of business development, told 5 Minute Briefing. Oracle database administrators document all work done on an Oracle database. Other individuals involved in the DBA process may also add or edit information based on login security. The tool is especially useful for teams of DBAs working together and for clients who want a record of the process. “They can document everything that happens,” Halsband said.

The tool is based on standard Wiki technology. BSD has layered on templates including best practices. “The tool gives you structure and documentation,” Halsband said. BSD will provide The Whole Megillah to partner clients at no additional charge. In an E-Business Suite upgrade, Megillah helps assure that the same procedures are followed as the project moves from the test instance to development and finally into production.

BSD will demonstrate “Megillah” at COLLABORATE 08 in Booth 1542. For more information, go here.

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New Oracle Identity Management Software Increases Security Across Diverse Operating Systems

Oracle has announced Oracle Authentication Services for Operating Systems, a new offering within Oracle Identity Management, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware. Rather than storing and managing access and identity information locally on individual Linux or Unix servers throughout the enterprise, Oracle Authentication Services for Operating Systems enables IT managers to centralize this information in a single corporate directory. End-users can access enterprise applications as well as Linux or Unix servers through a single sign-on login.

“The reason we have done this is because customers come to us asking for the best practice to protect their systems,” Clayton Donley, senior director of development for identity management at Oracle, told 5 Minute Briefing. Now, with Oracle Authentication Services for Operating Systems, said Donley, “we give them this end-to-end solution from the operating system all the way up to their applications and databases and so forth.”

Organizations with Unix or Linux servers can benefit from Oracle Authentication Services for Operating Systems by being able to easily enforce consistent security and compliance policies across these systems. For example, administrators and auditors can now centrally disable accounts or more easily report orphaned accounts, which helps ensure that administrator access is compliant with organizational policies.

Oracle Authentication Services for Operating Systems, part of the Oracle Directory Services offering, is based on open standards and includes tight integration with Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) on Unix and Linux operating systems, including Oracle Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Sun Solaris, IBM AIX and HPUX. The new offering also features tools and scripts to configure both PAM and Oracle Internet Directory components for a simplified migration and native security between network endpoints.

It also includes Oracle Internet Directory, built on the Oracle Database, which securely stores and distributes data pertaining to users, groups, roles and entitlements across the enterprise; Oracle Virtual Directory, which accesses identity information contained in several identity sources and presents it to the application as a single data source; and flexible password policy support that helps ensure users are selecting stronger passwords and changing them regularly. For more information, go here.

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Ntirety Secures $1 Million Investment for Expansion in Massachusetts

Ntirety, a leader in remote database administration, has announced it has received $1 million in venture capital funding to expand marketing and sales. The funding will allow Ntirety to expand its Massachusetts operations and hire database administrators to serve its growing customer base.

The Series B funding is being provided by a lead investor, the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), as well as previous investors, CL Ventures, and Ntirety founder, CEO and recognized database expert Michael Corey. MTDC is a leading edge venture capital firm that invests in start-up and early-stage technology companies operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Founded in 2001, Ntirety provides remote monitoring, administering and tuning of Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases for a fixed monthly fee. Ntirety's experts apply their skills to client databases, allowing customers to cut their IT costs and eliminate common causes for database outages.

According to Ntirety, it competes with offshore service providers and on-site database consultants by leveraging its proprietary technology that enables its expert database administrators to work more efficiently than competitors. Ntirety supplies each customer with a specialized appliance that plugs into their database system and allows Ntirety's database administrators to remotely and securely manage the database.

"Ntirety offers a proven, reliable service that proactively tunes our clients’ databases and prevents costly crashes,” said Corey at the time of the announcement. “The new funding will allow us to expand our marketing and sales efforts so more companies can experience the peace of mind that the comes from knowing seasoned professionals are managing and caring for databases critical to their businesses.” The funding will spur additional growth for Ntirety, which recently expanded in Massachusetts, moving its headquarters to Dedham while retaining its Charlestown office. For more information about Ntirety, go here and visit Corey's Web blog here.

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Going Green Gets CIOs' Attention

The adoption of eco-friendly computing is fast emerging as a priority for technology decision_makers, according to a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, “2008 Trends to Watch: Green IT.” The report reveals that tighter regulatory measures and advances in technology are feeding renewed interest in Green IT. In an independent survey conducted by Datamonitor, over 75 percent of respondent firms considered eco-friendly computing as an important element in their IT strategy while a further 15 percent rated it as their top IT priority. Unisphere Research, our research arm, conducts proprietary studies of IT trends. To read abstracts of these studies, go here. Are you interested in having proprietary research conducted for your company about issues of concern to you? For more information, send an email to Tom@dbta.com.

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Anticipation Runs High for COLLABORATE 08

Moving a conference away from Las Vegas, America’s favorite trade show city, is always a risk. And with the economy in the tank, the odds against folks securing funding for going to conferences get even longer. That is why we were delighted when insiders told us that attendance at COLLABORATE 08 in Denver this year should meet or exceed the attendance mark set at the conference in Las Vegas last year. That kind of response is a testament to the role that Oracle technology plays in the enterprise and the commitment of the Oracle user community to education and development. There is widespread anticipation that users will be able to explore the real-world experiences companies are having using the new technology Oracle announced over the last year in production. And Oracle president Charles Phillip may use his keynote address to make a major announcement, as he has during the past two COLLABORATE conferences. To follow trends in the industry, read the e-edition of Database Trends and Applications magazine here.

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COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum is Less Than a Week Away!

COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO, is less than one week away. If you registered through the IOUG, you should have received an e-mail with detailed information on what to expect before arriving onsite, including these can’t-miss IOUG-only activities:

• SIG Welcome Reception, Sunday, April 13, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Hyatt, Granite ABC
  Looking for year-round education and networking activities specifically focused around your job role? Be sure to attend this event to learn all about IOUG SIGs and what they have to offer.
  
• Tuning Oracle Coffeehouse, Monday, April 14, 8:30 p.m. – 11 p.m., Hyatt, Centennial Ballroom D
  Join your Oracle peers and enjoy beer with the IOUG Board during this event. Converse with others over live music, and karaoke with your colleagues in this relaxed environment.
  
• IOUG Hands-on labs, taking place throughout the week at the Hyatt
  Learn about the daily uses and how to problem-solve with technology in the IOUG's two-hour hands-on lab sessions.
  
• Priority Seating at Unconference Sessions – PowerPoint FreeZone, taking place throughout the week at the Colorado Convention Center
  Network with your Oracle peers on topics that interest you during these open forums.
  
• And much more!

If you have additional questions about the conference, simply contact the IOUG at IOUG@ioug.org.

Still want to attend this premier event for Oracle users? You can still register onsite for COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum. Visit the registration desk located in the Colorado Convention Center to register.

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Receive Full- or Half-day Training during COLLABORATE 08

Already registered for the conference of the year for Oracle users – COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum April 13-17 in Denver, CO? Or, do you live near Denver? Why not enhance your Oracle knowledge on a particular subject by attending a full- or half-day IOUG University Seminar*? The IOUG is offering in-depth training on more than 15 topics, including:

• Database Tuning
  
• Oracle Database 11g
  
• Real Applications Cluster (RAC)
  
• And much more!
  

To register for a University Seminar, simply visit the registration desk at the Colorado Convention Center.

*University Seminars are not included within your conference registration. They are available for an additional fee.

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IOUG Launches New Fusion Middleware Portal

With the explosion of middleware technologies like Application Servers, J2EE, Web Services, SOA, BPEL, Business Rules, XML, etc., there’s going to be a strong need for Oracle Fusion Middleware professionals. Now, IOUG members have a resource for enhancing their Fusion Middleware knowledge: the IOUG Fusion Middleware portal. Log on to this new portal today to:

• Learn the importance of supporting Oracle Fusion Application environments and understand its four pillars
  
• Have your most pressing Fusion Middleware questions answered via its blogs and discussion forums
  
• Listen to podcasts of roundtable discussions, conference sessions and much more with Fusion Middleware users
• Access numerous Fusion Middleware resources like a glossary, Oracle links and much more through its repository

Still need additional information on Fusion Middleware?

Join the IOUG at COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum , April 13-17 in Denver, CO, and attend the special half-day introductory course called Fusion Infusion. The IOUG will also be featuring a special track on Fusion Middleware, where you can attend more than 70 sessions.

If you haven't registered for the event yet, you can register onsite. Simply visit the registration desk at the Colorado Convention Center. Full and one-day conference passes are available.

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Announcing IOUG’s New Board of Directors

The following individuals have been elected to serve on the 2008-2009 IOUG Board of Directors:

• Ian Abramson
  
• Andy Flower
  
• Kent Hinckley
  
• Steve Lemme
  
• Michelle Malcher

Congratulations to Ian, Kent, and Andy on their re-election, welcome back to Steve and congratulations to Michelle on her first term!

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Submit Your Technical Tips for the IOUG’s Best Practices Booklet

The IOUG is currently accepting submissions for its third annual Best Practices Booklet of technical tips for Oracle professionals. If you have any best practices and tips for managing an Oracle Database, geared toward developers and DBAs, consider submitting today!

Share the tips and best practices you use in your work all the time—the code snippets and favorite queries you keep within easy reach. “Best practices” include acknowledged and sensible ways of carrying out an activity; “tips” illustrate how some activity could be done in a better way or reveal some undocumented or not-so-well-known feature.

Submissions should be 500-1,000 words long; due to space constraints, we ask that your submission have a specific focus, opposed to any overarching database principles. Submissions can range from beginning to advanced-level skills and should include the actual code and queries used (screenshots and other small graphics are also acceptable).

The submission deadline is May 15, 2008. This ever-popular booklet will mail with the Quarter 4 issue of SELECT Journal and will be distributed at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2008. If you have any questions about submitting, please feel free to contact our Best Practices Booklet Coordinator, Theresa Rubinas, at select@ioug.org.

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Founded in 1993, the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) (formerly International Oracle Users Group) is a user-driven membership organization for Oracle technology and database professionals serving more than 15,000 database administrators, developers, architects, technical managers and other Oracle professionals throughout North America and worldwide. The IOUG empowers its members and the broader Oracle community through their technical publication, SELECT Journal, Web site resources including more than 3000 papers, tips and articles and networking with other users through online discussion forums, Special Interest Groups and a network of regional Oracle user groups. For more information about the IOUG, please visit the IOUG Web site.

Database Trends and Applications, published by Unisphere Media, provides timely coverage of the technology and intelligence needed to conceptualize, plan, initiate, implement and manage large-scale integrated information projects. Unisphere Media also publishes 5 Minute Briefing: Data Integration, a summary of news, trends, and insights addressing crucial data integration challenges and 5 Minute Briefing: MultiValue, a review of news, technical tips and insights for the MultiValue database community. Visit our Web site here.

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