Object Consulting Awarded Sun Microsystems Identity Management Elite Partner Status

- Australian Software Developer Hires Resources To Pursue Identity Management Opportunities -

SYDNEY , 28 June, 2006 – Object Consulting, a specialist Australian consultant, trainer and developer of enterprise software solutions, has been awarded Sun Microsystems Identity Management Elite Partner status. In granting this status, Sun recognises that Object has the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver state of the art identity management and security solutions to customers based on Sun technologies. It also makes Object a preferred delivery partner for Sun's customers in the area of identity management.

Object joins an exclusive group of Sun Identity Management Elite Partners. The program is run in addition to Sun's Partner Advantage Program with applicants undertaking a higher level of both technical and sales focused identity management training. In order to qualify, Object was required to make a significant investment in becoming a technical solutions expert and trained a number of existing employees and hired several highly qualified new employees, to result in a solid base of seven Sun identity management accredited employees.

Object will now pursue new opportunities in the large corporate and government markets with Sun's leading user provisioning product – Sun Java System Identity Manager. Sun is positioned as the leader in the Leaders Quadrant of Gartner, Inc. User Provisioning Magic Quadrant 1H 06. Also, Forrester evaluated user account provisioning across 125 criteria in The Forrester Wave: User Account Provisioning, Q1 2006. It found that Sun is a market leader for a reason – its product delivers superior provisioning functionality with the highest ease of use.

According to Gary O'Brien, Identity Management Practice Manager, Sun Microsystems, “Object Consulting is one of a small number of Australian companies to achieve Sun Identity Management Partner status and we extend our congratulations to them. Object was a logical selection as a preferred delivery partner for identity management solutions given their long standing expertise in component-based technologies and J2EE. We were impressed by the scale of Object's business, its outstanding services delivery model and the breadth of its skill base.”

Commenting on the new partner status, Julian Edwards, Chief Operating Officer, Object Consulting, said, “We are already reaping the benefits of our relationship with Sun. Our Java expertise together with our partnership with Sun gives us greater reach and additional credibility in the user provisioning space. We are seeing significant opportunities for the provision of identity management solutions to the local market and as part of the anticipated market growth we expect to hire additional skilled resources to deliver on customer engagements.”

As part of its Sun Identity Management Partner status, Object Consulting will receive preferred access to training and marketing as well as demonstration products from Sun. The two companies will also participate in joint sales and marketing activities to leverage the power and expertise of both organisations.

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To arrange a media interview only please contact:
Helen Burchell on behalf of Object Consulting: 0419 605 345 or via e-mail helen_burchell@bigpond.com