Microsoft Cites Exostar Cloud-Based Offering As 'Business Ready Security'

ForumPass 4 leverages and extends Microsoft products in a cloud-based service offering that enables secure, multienterprise collaboration

May 12, 2009

4 Min Read

PRESS RELEASE

HERNDON, VA, May 11, 2009 " Exostar, the leading provider of secure, multi-enterprise, on-demand collaboration solutions to the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, today announced its ForumPass 4 solution has been identified by Microsoft as a prime example of Business Ready Security, the Microsoft enterprise security strategy announced on April 16. Exostar and ForumPass 4 are featured in a video and case study produced by Microsoft.

Business Ready Security is Microsoft's unique approach to helping companies achieve their business goals while managing risk and empowering people. The strategy is based on three fundamental tenets: integrate and extend security across the enterprise; protect everywhere, yet allow access from anywhere; and simplify the security experience and manage compliance. The core element of the strategy is bringing identity and security together, which is precisely what ForumPass 4 does, according to Douglas Leland, general manager of the Identity and Security Business Group at Microsoft.

"Exostar balances the needs for protection and access for some of the world's biggest contractors, including A&D leaders such as BAE SYSTEMS, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co., and Rolls-Royce and their extended communities of trading partners. They provide a secure collaboration solution that enables the delivery of extremely complex business projects. ForumPass 4 integrates security, identity and access to control who has appropriate use of information, while simultaneously protecting that information from loss or attack." Collaboration in an ecosystem that spans businesses and industries will be a driver for economic recovery and growth. Security products, standards and operationalization are vital to overcoming the associated challenges. Microsoft and Exostar believe that security requires a top-down approach for the definition and implementation of the necessary policies and processes, as well as the integration of internal security and collaboration across company boundaries " precisely the areas where ForumPass 4 excels.

Exostar leveraged a number of Microsoft products in the development of ForumPass 4:

  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides the core collaboration engine. Because Office SharePoint Server 2007 is tightly interwoven with Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and the Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating systems, ForumPass 4 customers can maximize the values of their existing infrastructures, and users can work within environments and interfaces to which they are accustomed, raising the level of acceptance.

    • Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint ensures that documents created and shared within ForumPass 4 don't contain any out-of-policy content or malicious software.

    • Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) delivers seamless authentication of users at varying levels of authentication strength throughout the multi-enterprise ecosystem, while also allowing Exostar to offer ForumPass 4 as a cloud service. The hosted model relieves ForumPass 4 customers of the burden of solution deployment, integration, testing, training, support and upgrade, as well as partner vetting and on-boarding, freeing critical IT resources while speeding time-to-value and collaboration.

      ForumPass 4 originally was designed for the A&D industry, where identity management, intellectual property protection, and compliance with standards and regulations are paramount. ForumPass 4's QuickStart package helps customers rapidly establish their own collaboration groups, configure libraries of documents, and extend pre-built workflow templates that capture and automate best practices for crucial business processes. Exostar is poised to expand into new markets, including Life Sciences and other industries where secure, multi-enterprise collaboration is a requirement.

      "ForumPass 4 provides businesses with the functionality, scalability and performance they require to effectively share information across their ecosystem - internally, and with their partners, suppliers, and customers," said Vijay Takanti, vice president of security and collaboration solutions at Exostar. "As a result, even the most complex programs and projects with global constituents remain on schedule and on budget, while sensitive documents and data receive ironclad protection."

      About Exostar Exostar's Trusted Workspace powers secure, multi-enterprise information sharing, collaboration, and business process integration throughout the extended value chain. Exostar was founded in 2000 to support the complex trading needs of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies, including BAE SYSTEMS, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co., and Rolls-Royce. Exostar's identity assurance products and on-demand business applications reduce risk, improve agility, and strengthen trading partner relationships and profitability for over 40,000 companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.exostar.com.

      Media Contact: Alan Gilbert Exostar (703) 793-7735 (o) (703) 624-4675 (m) [email protected]

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