Re: [pki-tc] PLEASE REVIEW draft Ask Vendors survey and vendor list

[Arshad Noor <arshad.noor@strongauth.com>]

Steve/All,

Here are my comments and suggestions:

1) While many of the vendors on this list probably understand the benefits
    of PKI-enabling their applications, it would be useful to include a
    paragraph - for Product Managers not too familiar with the benefits of
    PKI - why PKI-enabling their applications is good for their customers
    and their bottom-line.  It appears to me, we're assuming the vendors
    already know these benefits and just need to tell us what's stopping
    them from supporting PKI;

2) In question #1, we ask "what sort of PKI support do they include?";
    might it not be useful to provide some examples, such as:

	a) Digital Signatures
	b) Certificate-based authentication
	c) Encryption
	d) Other: (please explain) _______________________

3) In the E-Commerce vendors section, I propose we add the following
    vendors to the list to be queried:

	a) Middleware vendors, such as IBM, Sun, Oracle, BEA, Tibco,
	   Microsoft, CA, etc.
	b) Database vendors: IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, MySQL, etc.
	c) Application vendors: Oracle, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Lawson,
	   Microsoft, CA, etc.
	d) Operating System vendors: Microsoft, Sun, Red Hat, Novell,
	   Apple, HP, IBM, etc.
	e) E-Commerce operators: Amazon, E-bay, Priceline, Orbitz,
	   Salesforce, etc.

     I realize that I'm working on defining the E-Commerce section as part
     of the Application Guidelines SC; however, since this SC is ready to go
     out with a questionnaire, I thought it might be useful to add to this
     list now, rather than wait for the E-commerce defintion before we get
     any answers from them.

Arshad Noor
StrongAuth, Inc.


Steve Hanna wrote:
> Here's a quick update from the Ask Vendors SC
> with several ACTION ITEMs for you at the bottom.
> Please complete the ACTION ITEMs within a week,
> if possible.
> 
> The Ask Vendors SC has agreed to the following items:
> 
> 1) Because of time differences, the Ask Vendors SC won't
>    hold regular meetings. Instead, we'll work by email.
> 
> 2) The Implementation Plan previously posted looks fine.
>    The only thing that should be changed in it are the
>    dates. For now, we'll just proceed without updating
>    the dates.
> 
> The Ask Vendors SC has completed a draft survey that we
> plan to send to application vendors for the three most
> popular PKI applications, as cited in the August 2003
> survey: Document Signing, Secure Email, and Electronic
> Commerce. The goal of this survey is to ask them what they
> need to provide better PKI support. Using this data, the
> PKI TC will later explore how these needs can be met so
> that application support for PKI can be improved.
> 
> ACTION ITEM for you:
>   Please review the draft Ask Vendors survey at
> http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/pki-askvendors/download.php/6801/ask-vendors-survey-20040518.txt 
> 
>   and send your comments to the PKI TC email list.
> 
> We have also prepared a draft list of vendors who will
> be approached for this survey. We could use help finding
> good contacts at these vendors (especially people you
> *know*, so they won't ignore us). Other changes and
> additions to the list are welcome.
> 
> ACTION ITEM for you:
>   Please review the draft Vendor List at
> http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/pki-askvendors/download.php/6802/ask-vendors-vendor-list-20040518.txt 
> 
>  and send your comments to the PKI TC email list.
> 
> We will also discuss these documents at the PKI TC
> meeting tomorrow. The Ask Vendors SC has not discussed
> a schedule for sending out this survey, but I expect
> that it will go out in about a week. So get your
> comments in soon!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Steve