Ron Schmelzer, an analyst with XML research firm ZapThink, says Oblix “wasn’t the first company that came to mind” when he considered potential buyers of Web-services-management firms. Until now, identity management has been a system at the heart of the enterprise, controlling access to internal applications.

Now, Schmelzer says, Web services may be extended outside the company to business partners, provided they’re linked to an access-control system, such as Oblix’s NetPoint. The Oblix move may signal “another wave of consolidation” as identity-management vendors team up with Web-services management, he adds.

Read more at: InformationWeek