A new piece of the puzzle is released here:
http://labs.jboss.com/portal/jbosssso/?prjlist=false [1]
In brings to market an app server app solution to single sign-on. Not necessarily an enterprise solution. I will wait to see how serious they are about creating app solutions that run on the app server, not the add-on features that they care clearly going to win with, such as Hibernate, Cache, and development frameworks, such as Seam. JBoss SSO seems to me to be the first attempt at an app by an app server vendor since WebLogic Commerce, I don't count Portals. Alongside Open SSO from java.net at Sun, JBoss is begrudingly admitting that the app server and platform features are becoming harder to sell for profit. It needs to be the platform for the app market that will be bigger than the app server market. I believe that there will be a new set of companies to compete in the nascent apps market. But that does not mean JBoss won't be a factor. It just won't have a natural business model to disrupt. The app market will be different. In a few weeks, we'll be releasing the initial app product to disrupt...
Links:
[1] http://labs.jboss.com/portal/jbosssso/?prjlist=false