Posted 9:01 AM

The rear-view crystal ball

Marc Cantor (whose work I was introduced to by Kim Cameron) ends the year on a strange note by suggesting that Microsoft become "the mega meta momma backplane" (that is, the foundation or the "warp and woof") of Identity. Marc has no love for Redmond, mind you, but thinks "We can put Microsoft's past behind them."

{loud chortling from the peanut gallery}

Microsoft no longer has any moral or political capital to invest or spend in Identity Management, Marc. They had the opportunity, squandered it with "Hailstorm" and now must take their place as dutiful soldier to the effort that will be lead by Sun, Novell, and IBM (and supported by RSA, Entrust, VeriSign, et al) to standardize IdM for the masses.

Of course, Cantor also singles out Sxip Networks (best described as "open source Hailstorm") for praise, so it appears his imagination is lacking, too. People have decided, Marc, they will not store their identity information with a third party - any third party. That party is over.