IBM to launch security software for small business

IBM on Monday plans to unveil a scaled-down version of its federated security software in a move to reach out to small businesses.

IBM's new Tivoli Federated Identity Manager Business Gateway, a version of Tivoli Federated Identity Manager, aims to allow small companies of up to 5,000 employees to connect like spokes of a large company--or hub--to share information securely via a single sign-on.

"The hubs want to sell to smaller partners and before, these partners would have to use the full product to be a spoke," said Joe Anthony, IBM's Tivoli identity management director.

Tivoli's business gateway is roughly a third of the size of the full Federated Identity Manager, in terms of data requirements. The product will generally be available November 24 and retail for $70,000 per server, with no limits on the number of users.