Oracle has announced that it will re-brand its range of middleware products as Oracle Fusion Middleware. The new branding reflects Oracle's plans to integrate recently acquired JD Edwards and PeopleSoft applications with the platform, having also unveiled a roadmap for certifying the two systems with Fusion Middleware. In addition to this the applications will be integrated with Oracle Portal and Oracle Identity Management, thus enabling customers to access Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards applications through a single portal and lower their security management costs.

"The certification of PeopleSoft and JD Edwards expands our ability to simplify the integration of heterogeneous applications and data," said Thomas Kurian, senior vice president, Server Technologies, Oracle. "Instead of locking customers into proprietary systems, Oracle Fusion Middleware provides customers with a flexible and cost effective platform to fuse applications together."

This new Oracle Fusion Middleware brand incorporates Oracle Application Server 10g - Application Development Tools and J2EE Application Server; Web Services infrastructure; Enterprise Service Buses and Integration; Business Process Management and Activity Monitoring; Business Intelligence Tools; Security and Identity Management; Enterprise Portals and Mobile - as well as Data Hubs and Oracle Collaboration Suite.

In a move designed to strengthen its identity management offering, Oracle recently acquired Oblix, a privately held Californian software company that specialises in developing identity based security solutions.

Phil Schacter, vice president of security and identity management at research and consultancy firm, Burton Group, said "This acquisition is a positive move by Oracle and a natural step for Oblix given the new realities of the identity management market. The new combined product set will provide an integrated identity and access management solution for Oracle customers and further extends this solution to support a heterogeneous environment."

The Oblix software will be incorporated into the Oracle Fusion Middleware portfolio as part of the Oracle Identity Management solution.