Sun buys Trustbase to boost iPlanet's ecommerce offerings

Sun Microsystems has acquired London based Trustbase and its public key infrastructure (PKI) software to boost the ecommerce offerings of its iPlanet venture, which was formerly known as the Sun-Netscape Alliance.

The PKI technology, which is sold by Trustbase's JCP Computer Services subsidiary, is expected to improve the user authentication and identification capabilities of iPlanet's software and boost Sun's business to business ecommerce product portfolio.

Trustbase and JCP will become Sun business units, and JCP's employees, including its management, will join iPlanet's Ecommerce Solutions division.

John Hake, Sun's director of worldwide financial services, said: "The development and deployment of many new online business to business services is unstoppable, as is customer demand for products that deliver the reliable, scalable and secure environments necessary for success in the dot.com world."

He added that the technology from both companies, once it was integrated together, would be targeted initially at financial institutions, followed by more generic online business to business customers.

Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga Information Group, said: "Sun prefers to bring technology in house. It has always been a company to own, not license or partner."

JCP's technology is currently being deployed by Identrus, a private company backed by financial institutions such as Bank of America, Chase Manhattan, Deutsche Bank and Hypo Vereinsbank.

Identrus is establishing standards for, and has the charter to operate a global infrastructure for undertaking, business to business transactions, with the aim of making it easier to introduce new corporate Internet banking services such as electronic funds transfer and payment, bill presentment and online procurement.