http://sun.systemnews.com Government http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/126/3/Government/20458 Bill Vass, president and COO of Sun Microsystems, Federal, likens middleware to plumbing, the sort of infrastructure no one bothers to think about until, suddenly, it doesn't work. Vass reminds readers that IT technology is cyclical and that Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Enterprise Service Buses (ESB) are part of the current cycle around distributed computing. He and Ashesh Badani have done a podcast that reviews the evolution of distributed computing to the current state of SOA, as well as how SOA is being used in the Federal Government, and some of the technical and business challenges involved. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/98/4/Government/15926 The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) had been designated as the lead laboratory for nuclear energy research in 2002. With this responsibility assigned, the INL needed to ensure that it had a highly secure, flexible and transparent collaborative computational capability that could be reached by its international partners. To fulfill this requirement, INL turned to Sun. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/98/4/Government/16257 In a SearchOpenSource.com article, writer Andrew Bardin Williams seeks an answer on whether open source solutions are secure enough for government IT infrastructure. Gartner Analyst John Pescatore believes that many open source solutions are more secure than closed source solutions and may even be a better fit in the government sector. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/98/4/Government/16290 GE Security, a communication and IT company and subsidiary of the General Electric Company, will be combining its Picture Perfect Version 4 Security Management System with the Sun JavaTM System Identity Management Suite. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/76/4/Government/13314 Sun has released its Secure Network Access Platform (SNAP), based on the Trusted SolarisTM Operating System, in the UK where it will offer government clients secure access to highly sensitive data and important applications. SNAP will also ensure safe collaboration between government organizations, dramatically reducing the threat posed by viruses, worms and hackers to the integrity of their networks. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/76/4/Government/13312 Looking to advance secure network computing solutions within the government sectors, Sun created the Global Government Office and appointed Clark Masters as executive vice president, naming him president of Sun Microsystems Federal, Inc. as well. The new division will focus on governmental, individual and technological needs and advancements. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/76/4/Government/13229 The Army Accessions Command is implementing a document management system for use by its recruiters that will facilitate the sharing of information among interested Army systems and recruits themselves. The Sun IT infrastructure was chosen for its scalability and because of the potential it poses for moving in the direction of a paperless operation. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/75/3/Government/12893 Identity management and open, interoperable, decentralized standards are goals that the Liberty Alliance Project is working toward. This white paper outlines benefits the government will procure if these standards are implemented. http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/75/3/Government/13052 An advanced logistics platform of software and hardware will be delivered in a joint project by Sun and IFS Defense to Aerospace and Defense (A&D) organizations. This joint solution offers IFS applications running on the Sun JavaTM Enterprise System and the SolarisTM Operating System (Solaris OS). http://sun.systemnews.com/articles/75/3/Government/13054 The Sun-Microsoft alliance is expected to benefit many industries, particularly governmental agencies, with the promise of interoperability between their systems and other products. Cooperative solutions will mean more simplified software integrations and less compatibility limitations, resulting in compliance with recent congressional mandates requiring sound, integrated information systems architecture.