Microsoft Stirling delayed: More interoperability please

Microsoft has delayed the release of its 'Stirling' security-integration product, part of the Forefront business-security suite, citing interoperability problems.

In a blog post on Friday, a member of the Forefront team wrote that customers beta testing Stirling had asked for it to have better interoperability with third-party products.

"We have been working closely with customers in our Technology Adoption Program to gather their feedback about how we can deliver the best experience and value with 'Stirling'," the blog said. "One of the top customer requests was adding interoperability with third-party security solutions."

Microsoft announced Stirling in 2007 and said that the product would enable IT professionals to centrally manage multiple security products from different vendors.

Stirling, which went into public beta last year, is also designed to provide an overall management console for Microsoft products including Forefront Client Security, Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint and Forefront Threat Management Gateway.

The product was originally slated for release in the first half of 2009.

The Forefront blogger wrote on Friday that only two parts of Stirling, Forefront Server Security for Exchange and Threat Management Gateway, were expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Other parts of Stirling will be pushed back even further. According to the blog, the Stirling management console, Forefront Client Security 2.0 and Forefront Security for SharePoint will not be released now until the first half of 2010.

Microsoft said it will ship a second public beta, plus a release candidate, before rolling out the product.

Original article: Microsoft pushes back Stirling release from ZDNet UK