Role Up-Role Up

Although I can not find an official announcement, it would appear that Oracle are about to acquire Bridgestream according to this article from PEHUB. Its not really surprising or new as there have been rumours and speculation around for a number of months now.

What I do find surprising are some of the figures mentioned. According to PEHUB Oracle will be paying between $33 million and $36 million, the article reports that Bridgestreams revenue figures are $500k pa. As part of an MBA module I was taught that an acquistion figure around 12 times revenue is the norm, using this as a rough guide Bridgestream could be valued at around $6 million. Hats off to the Bridgestream guys for securing up to $36 million.

 The announcement will have very little impact on the roles market place, although Bridgestream as an entity will be disappear there are a number of new entrants that will help keep things fresh and competitive.

I recently attended my first Oracle architects club event; I was particularly interested as the main strap line was around Identity Management Strategies. I fully expected some kind of sales pitch and was pleasantly surprised when it became apparent that was not the case.

John Madelin was a fantastic speaker; I felt a great deal of his material was from a slightly more academic stand point rather than practical, but it gave a great deal of insight in to the future of IM and federation, supplying plenty of food for thought.  

The Q&A session seemed to be steered towards ID cards and privacy, both were fascinating subjects and even more compelling when brought together. The closing conclusions summed up that roles would be a fundamental part of IM moving forward, due to time the session was brought to close.  Post the event I have spent some time reviewing a number of the blogs from other attendees, I have found 2 of particular interest-:  I agree with Paul Squires in his Identity Discussion, he writes about how roles rather than identity could be used to establish either an “under 18” or “over 18” year old, thus entitling that individual to buy and consume alcohol. The individual’s personal details other than age are irrelevant in this instance so a role fits perfect.

 On the other side of the fence I tend to disagree with Drew Wagar when he writes in his Identity Increases Privacy blog. I would argue that once an individual’s identity has been exposed his privacy has gone to some degree. To add privacy, that identity should be wrapped up in a role, so in Drew’s example, “entitled” or “not entitled” would suffice. Utilising the EMV as Drew says would enhance that privacy, again in this example the users identity is totally irrelevant, the card reader does not care who they are, its only concern is the card holder’s entitlement (role). 

All in all the entire event was very thought provoking; I hope the next one in March is as good.