SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA)(1) and Vaau, Inc. today announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Sun will acquire Vaau, a premier provider of Enterprise Role Management (ERM) and identity compliance solutions.

As a leader in enterprise role management and identity certification, Vaau provides an integrated set of capabilities to automate and enforce internal security controls that will further enhance Sun's ability to provide comprehensive solutions to our customers across the full spectrum of governance, risk and compliance.

As regulatory requirements continue to tighten, enterprises must find new ways to reduce auditing costs. By leveraging ERM, organizations can reduce these costs by discovering, defining, and managing user access with a common vocabulary that links business and IT. Vaau's RBACxTM solution combined with the provisioning and identity auditing capabilities of Sun's identity management portfolio powered by the Solaris™ 10 Operating System will enable organizations to streamline the provisioning process and significantly reduce the cost of auditing.

“This announcement further underscores Sun's leadership in the high growth identity audit and compliance categories, adding both a market-leading solution and proven implementation services to our portfolio,” said Jim McHugh, vice president of Marketing, Software Infrastructure, Sun Microsystems. “As a leader in enterprise role management and identity certification, Vaau provides an integrated set of capabilities to automate and enforce internal security controls that will further enhance Sun's ability to provide comprehensive solutions to our customers across the full spectrum of governance, risk and compliance.”

Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW)