BizTalk SSO Enables Enterprise Logon

BizTalk 2004 introduces a component called Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO), which allows users and processes to access heterogeneous applications through a single login. At the core of SSO is a SQL Server database, which securely stores and relates Windows user credentials to non-Windows credentials, and a server component that can validate credentials in the database and pass these credentials to others applications (such as a BizTalk application).

In this example, a Windows-based human resources (HR) self-service application allows employees to access, via a BizTalk orchestration, information in the company’s mainframe-based HR system, which requires separate log-on credentials. A user accesses the self-service application with their Windows user credentials and requests salary information for a list of employees. The application then submits the request as a message to BizTalk Server. The BizTalk adapter receives the message and provides the user’s credential to BizTalk Server’s SSO component, which returns a unique SSO ticket corresponding to the user’s credentials (step 1). The ticket is attached to the message and the message is published to the MessageBox.