Getting started with identity management . . .

Question

. . .  at least I think that's what I'm asking about.
I've worked quite a number of years in the Oracle database world, but this is really my first foray into Fusion Middleware, or Identity Management, or whatever I'm looking for is called.
We are looking at tightening our user security by tying our database usernames/logons to Active Directory.   The immediate issue is that we have various people connecting to the db with each other's credentials.  I know this is at least partly a management issue, but the people doing the sharing are themselves managers.  And for the most part I don't think they even realize they are sharing credentials.  I think most of it comes from sharing Excel spreadsheets with external data connections to the Oracle database, and their credentials are hard-coded into the connection definition.  So when Bob gives a copy of a spreadsheet to Carol, he doesn't even know his personal credentials are built in and that  when Carol uses her copy of the sheet, she is connecting with his credentials.
What we'd like to do is tie their database credentials to their network credentials.    At this point I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if that inherently means single-sign-on  something short of that.  And at this point I'm not sure I care about that distinction, but I at least want to keep the distinction visible. 
Since my "home" is the database forums, I've asked around there and been given some links to various docs and MOS notes, pointing back to more docs.  Mostly simply under the umbrella of 'you need to use Fusion Middleware'.  which is why I am coming to this forum.   It is quickly reaching a point of "you've got to understand it all before you can understand any of it".  In other words, I'm not finding a good starting point to get any traction.
Currently I'm trying to get my head around "Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Identity Management" and still getting lost in all of the different components.
When I go to look at downloading software to try (Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g Software Downloads) , it looks like what I want is Identity Management, but I'm not sure if I've even followed the correct trail to get to that point.
When I go to the online store to get an idea of what actual product we will need to purchase (https://shop.oracle.com/pls/ostore/f?p=dstore:2:0::NO:RIR,RP,2:PROD_HIER_ID:4509956172801805720011), again, I'm not sure which product I should be looking at, or if I've even followed the correct trail to get to that point.
I'm not sure how the version numbers work and how they relate (if it matters) to the database version numbers.  FWIW, my databsaes are all Standard Edition 11.2.0.4, with some on Linux and one prod/test pair on Windows.  We are looking at moving to 12.1 in the next 12 to 18 months.
I know this is all rather vague, but at this point I don't even know enough to ask a more focused, intelligent question.  I'm hoping someone can see what I'm after and help be get on the right track -- and cut through the forest of Fusion Middleware stuff that I don't need to be concerned with.

Answer 1

Hello Ed
Oracle EUS is basically what you need at this point. It enables you to address administrative and security challenges for enterprise database users. Enterprise User Security (EUS) relies on Oracle Identity Management infrastructure, which in turn uses an LDAP-compliant directory service to centrally store and manage users. The components you will need are mainly OID and/or OVD depending on your use case
Here is an excellent online doc explaining the EUS integrations
http://www.nyoug.org/Presentations/2011/December/Moulton-Sullivan_Centralize_Oracle_Database.pdf
Here's some more reading on EUS from Oracle
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/network.111/b28528/concepts.htm#DBIMI152
Regards Shiva