Directory Interoperability Forum
Objective of Meeting
The Directory Interoperability Forum brings customers and suppliers together to
increase use of interoperable standards-based directories and directory applications.
The DIF has defined the LDAP Certified program for certification of directories that
conform to the IETF LDAP RFCs, and the LDAP Ready program for certification of
applications that use them.
In 2004, the DIF will focus on developing and promoting the LDAP Ready program, and on
educating customers and suppliers about directory interoperability.
The objective of the San Diego meeting was to start up these activities and get them
moving.
Summary
The DIF meeting was part of The Open Group Conference on open standards and
certification. As a prelude to the meeting, the DIF staged an exhibit for conference
delegates. Four of the six vendors with LDAP Certified directories - Computer Associates,
IBM, Novell, and Oracle - supported the exhibit by showing certified products. This was an
impressive demonstration of the strength of the LDAP Certified program and the support of
DIF members for certification and open standards.
The key achievements of the meeting itself were:
- Agreement on a strategy to engage directory application vendors in the LDAP Ready
program
- Outline planning of education events on directory interoperability to be held at The
Open Group Conferences later in 2004.
The meeting also:
- Progressed the DIF's work on the definition of a more stringent level of certification
to be added as an option to the LDAP Certified program
- Reviewed current directory-related standards work in the IETF, X.500, OASIS, and the
Liberty Alliance
- Discussed the use of XML in connection with directories
- Explored Web Portals technology, and its use of directories to personalise the user
experience and to support authentication
- Developed the DIF's draft Secure Directory Services Business Scenario - the statement of
requirements in the scenario was validated, common security threats and countermeasures
were reviewed, and definition of a certification profile was discussed.
Next Steps
The DIF will develop a web page about directory applications as a valuable, publicly
available information resource. Vendors with products certified as LDAP Ready will be
identified, and the page will be linked to the LDAP Ready certification registry.
The DIF will plan information events for The Open Group Conferences in July and October
2004, and also in January 2005. Each event will focus on a specific directory application
area, such as Information Management or Single Sign-On.
Development of the more stringent optional level of certification will proceed. The
Open Group Company Review of the documentation for this level is scheduled to start on
February 16.
The DIF will complete the Secure Directory Services Business Scenario and develop a
certification profile for secure directory servers. This will not be easy. Standardized
directory access control is a notoriously difficult area. But some ideas were discussed in
the San Diego meeting that could lead to success.
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