Patent ID: 7334013

Claim:
A method of sharing information among network servers, said network servers being coupled to a data communication network for providing services to a user via a client, said client also being coupled to the data communication network, said method comprising: registering a plurality of services provided by the network servers; registering a user with respect to a first selected service, said registering comprising receiving, from said user, user-specific information identifying said user with respect to operational information specific to the first selected service and, in response to receiving said user-specific information, assigning said user a unique identifier; grouping a plurality of the registered services provided by the network servers to define one or more service groups; storing, in a central database, the user-specific information, said user-specific information including operational information to be shared within each of the service groups to which the first selected service belongs, said central database being associated with a central server coupled to the data communication network; receiving a request from the user for a second selected service to be provided by one of the network servers, said request being received at the central server, said first and second selected services defining a first service group; determining, in response to receiving said request, whether the second selected service is registered and belongs to one of the service groups to which the first selected service belongs; retrieving, from the central database, the user-specific information including the operational information to be shared within each of the service groups to which the first selected service belongs when the second selected service is determined to belong to one of the service groups to which the first selected service belongs; automatically authenticating the user with respect to the second selected service when navigating from the first selected service, which is in the first service group, to the second selected service, which is also in the first service group; and generating an authentication ticket including the retrieved user-specific information and routing the user, with the ticket including the retrieved user-specific information, to the network server providing the second selected service, wherein operational information specific to the second selected service and the operational information for sharing between the first and second selected services accompanies the ticket.