Waveset Technologies

About Waveset Technologies

Waveset Technologies, founded in 2000 by Mark McClain and Mike Turner, was a pivotal player in the identity and access management software sector. The Austin, Texas-based company secured a total of $30.3 million in funding over three rounds, with its final Series C round in September 2002 raising $13 million from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Austin Ventures, and Silverton Partners. This capital was aimed at broadening its product suite and expanding its international presence.

The company's core business centered on providing solutions for secure network access control. Its flagship product, the Lighthouse suite, offered a comprehensive set of tools for managing user identities and access privileges across enterprise systems. This included the Lighthouse Provisioning Manager for automating user account creation and management, a Password Manager to empower users to handle their own passwords, and an Identity Broker for managing user profile data. Waveset's technology was designed to automate the lifecycle of user accounts—from creation and updates to deletion—across various IT systems such as PeopleSoft, Microsoft Exchange, and SAP. This automation provided both operational efficiency and enhanced security for its clients, which included major enterprises like Kraft Foods, 7-Eleven, and Merrill Lynch.

Waveset's trajectory culminated in its acquisition by Sun Microsystems in December 2003 for $136 million in an all-cash transaction. This acquisition was a strategic move for Sun to fill a significant gap in its identity management portfolio, specifically in user provisioning. The integration of Waveset's technology was intended to bolster Sun's Java System Network Identity Services. Following the acquisition, Waveset's software became known as Sun Identity Manager and later Oracle Waveset after Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. The entire Waveset team of about 100 employees was retained by Sun, with co-founders Mike Turner and Mark McClain taking on leadership roles within Sun's software and identity management marketing divisions, respectively.