Apache Announces Updated Syncope Identity Management Toolset
In recent posts, we've taken note of the many projects that the Apache Software Foundation has been moving up to Top-Level Status. The organization incubates more than 350 open source projects and initiatives, and has squarely turned its focus to Big Data and developer-focused tools in recent months. As Apache moves Big Data projects to Top-Level Status, they gain valuable community support and more.
Recently, Apache Bahir became a Top-Level Project (TLP). Now, the foundation has announced that it is making available Apache Syncope 2.0, a digital identity and access management system. Implemented in Java EE technology, Apache Syncope is designed to keep enterprise identity data consistent and synchronized across repositories, data formats, and models.
"Syncope 2.0.0 is a major milestone for the community," said Francesco Chicchiriccò, Vice President of Apache Syncope, and one of the original creators of the project. "The numbers of this release look great --new features, new components and tools, new contributors, more enterprise appeal, and even more extensibility."
Syncope was originally created at Tirasa and entered the Apache Incubator in February 2012. The project has had 30 releases since becoming a Top-Level Project (TLP) in November 2012. When open source projects reach the top level at Apache, they benefit from accelerated development and community support.
Apache Syncope 2.0 features include:
Domains - built to facilitate multi-tenancy, with physical separation of all data of different domains (e.g. tenant) into different database instances;
Any Objects - in addition to managing users and groups, Syncope is now also able to define and manage object types such as workstations, printers, folders, sensors, services and more. This positions Apache Syncope at the forefront of bringing identity management to the world of IoT (Internet of Things);
New Admin and End User UI - completely revisited Web administration console with new look, features, and self-service Web application allows users to edit details only pertaining to him/herself; and
Documentation - brand new Getting Started and Reference guides enable users to become productive quickly and efficiently.
"We are particularly proud of our new documentation, which is quite possibly the most widely claimed missing feature of many Open Source projects," added Chicchiriccò. "Apache Syncope documentation is here to eliminate this Achilles' heel. We're looking forward to welcoming new Syncope users."
Apache Syncope is in use at ARAG, Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova, Bibliotheek.nl, iWelcome, Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, PTC Vuforia, Stadtwerke München (SWM), SURFnet, University of Helsinki, University of Milan, and UShareSoft, among many others.
"We chose Apache Syncope as the Identity Management platform because of the simplicity and flexibility of its REST API and also for its support to import users from various sources," said Ben Sorek, Director Software Engineering at PTC. "Syncope’s extendibility was important in the implementation of the complex workflows required by Vuforia."
"Of all the Open Source systems available, we selected Apache Syncope as it met our requirements in the POC evaluation," said Päivi Pääkkö, Team Leader and IT Specialist at University of Helsinki. "As the home university of the developer of the Linux system, we have no doubts concerning the use of Open Source solutions."
For downloads, documentation, and more information on Apache Syncope, visit http://syncope.apache.org/ and https://twitter.com/syncopeidm