To Laura

For my daughter, who will always be the best part of my story.

Federated Authentication with OpenID Connect: Integrating IBM webMethods Integration Server 11.1 with WSO2 Identity Server 7.3.0

Federated Authentication with OpenID Connect: Integrating IBM webMethods Integration Server 11.1 with WSO2 Identity Server 7.3.0 Technical article · Identity Federation · OpenID Connect · webMethods Integration Server · WSO2 1. Introduction Integration platforms traditionally focus on connecting applications, orchestrating services and exposing APIs. Security in these environments is often associated with API authentication and authorisation mechanisms such as OAuth 2.0. However, there are scenarios in which an integration platform must understand not only whether a request is authorised, but also who the user making the request is. ...

October 11, 2026 · 23 min · 4836 words · me

Enterprise Security Explained: From SAML to OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect and JWT

Enterprise Security Explained: From SAML to OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect and JWT Understanding modern authentication and authorisation in distributed enterprise architectures. 1. Introduction Enterprise security has changed dramatically over the last two decades. In the past, enterprise applications were typically monolithic systems deployed within a single data centre. Authentication, authorisation and business logic were often managed within the same application or infrastructure. Today, applications are distributed across multiple environments, data centres and cloud providers. A frontend application might run in a user’s browser, communicate with REST APIs hosted in another cloud environment, and rely on an external identity provider to authenticate users. ...

October 4, 2026 · 20 min · 4119 words · me

Securing OAuth Client Credentials in webMethods Integration Server with HashiCorp Vault

Securing OAuth Client Credentials in webMethods Integration Server with HashiCorp Vault A practical, step-by-step guide to integrating IBM webMethods Integration Server with HashiCorp Vault on Rocky Linux, using AppRole authentication, REST APIs and the Outbound Password Store. Introduction Managing secrets is one of the most important aspects of enterprise integration security. Integration platforms such as IBM webMethods Integration Server frequently need to authenticate against external systems using OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials. This typically involves storing a client_id and a client_secret to obtain access tokens from an authorisation server. ...

September 27, 2026 · 13 min · 2606 words · me

Building a SAML 2.0 Service Provider with webMethods Integration Server

Building a SAML 2.0 Service Provider with webMethods Integration Server SAML integration is often handled by dedicated identity products, but there are situations where an integration platform needs to act directly as a SAML Service Provider. In this article, we’ll build a working SAML 2.0 Service Provider using webMethods Integration Server (IS), with WSO2 Identity Server 7.3.0 acting as the Identity Provider. The implementation covers the complete SP-initiated authentication flow, including: ...

September 20, 2026 · 12 min · 2375 words · me

Cryptography Basics for Developers: Encoding, Hashing, Encryption and Digital Signatures

Cryptography Basics for Developers: Encoding, Hashing, Encryption and Digital Signatures Cryptography has a reputation for being complicated. The mathematics certainly can be, but the fundamental concepts that developers and solution architects need every day are surprisingly approachable. The real difficulty is often understanding which tool solves which problem. Base64 is not encryption. URL encoding is not encryption either. Hashing is not reversible. Encryption provides confidentiality but not necessarily authenticity. Digital signatures do not encrypt your data. And asymmetric encryption is normally not how we encrypt large amounts of data. ...

September 13, 2026 · 19 min · 3921 words · me

Building Smarter Coding Assistants with Claude Code

Building Smarter Coding Assistants with Claude Code Modern software development is increasingly shaped by AI-powered tooling. Among these tools, coding assistants stand out as one of the most impactful innovations—helping developers write, debug, and optimise code faster than ever before. In this article, we’ll explore what coding assistants really are, how they work under the hood, and why Claude Code represents a particularly powerful approach to AI-assisted development. What Is a Coding Assistant? A coding assistant is an AI-powered tool built on top of language models that helps developers perform programming tasks. These tasks can range from fixing bugs to generating entire features. ...

January 11, 2026 · 5 min · 965 words · me

Connecting webMethods JDBC Adapter to an IBM Informix Database

Running IBM Informix in Docker and Connecting webMethods JDBC Adapter Overview This article documents, end‑to‑end, the setup of IBM Informix Developer Edition running in a Docker container and its successful integration with Software AG webMethods Integration Server using the JDBC Adapter. The goal is to provide a practical, real‑world guide covering: Informix installation via Docker Linux host preparation and security pitfalls Network and port exposure JDBC driver selection and placement webMethods JDBC Adapter configuration Common errors and how they were resolved This guide is based on a real troubleshooting session and reflects the issues you are most likely to encounter in enterprise Linux environments. ...

January 4, 2026 · 4 min · 694 words · me

Building with Claude: A Practical Developer Guide to Models, APIs, Prompts, Tools, RAG, MCP, and Agents

Building with Claude: A Practical Developer Guide to Models, APIs, Prompts, Tools, RAG, MCP, and Agents Claude is not just a chatbot interface. It is a platform for building AI-powered applications: assistants, coding tools, document processors, data analysers, retrieval systems, workflow automations, and agents that can use external tools. This guide walks through the main concepts a developer needs to understand when building with Claude: how to choose a model, how API requests work, how to manage conversations, how to control outputs, how to evaluate prompts, how tool use works, how to build RAG systems, how MCP fits into the architecture, and when to use workflows versus agents. ...

December 28, 2025 · 34 min · 7112 words · me

Why Open Source and Open Standards Matter More Than Ever

Why Open Source and Open Standards Matter More Than Ever In today’s digital world, it’s easy to take technology for granted. From sending a message to processing a payment or streaming a video, everything just works. But behind the scenes, much of this seamless experience is powered by two foundational pillars: open source software and open standards. Without them, modern life as we know it simply wouldn’t function. The Invisible Backbone of Modern Technology Everyday activities — banking, healthcare, communication, transportation — rely heavily on technologies built using open source and open standards. ...

December 21, 2025 · 5 min · 906 words · me

Quantum Computing: The Next Technological Leap for Business and Government

Quantum Computing: The Next Technological Leap for Business and Government Quantum computing is no longer just a theoretical concept. It is rapidly evolving into one of the most potentially disruptive technologies of this century. For technical leaders and strategic decision-makers, understanding its impact is no longer optional — it is essential. Why Quantum Computing Matters Classical computers have powered decades of innovation, but they are beginning to reach physical and computational limits. Highly complex problems — such as molecular simulation, logistics optimisation, and financial modelling — can become impractical or impossible to solve with current digital systems. ...

December 14, 2025 · 7 min · 1472 words · me