—NEWS RELEASE—
For Further Information Contact: Steven Russman, 734/930-1925 E-mail: Inquiry@ECPweb.com
SAM Industry to Weigh In on New Software Tag Standards
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (Jan. 24, 2007) – Worldwide industry standards for software tagging and identification are near completion. A committee of the International Business Software Managers Association has just finalized draft software tag standards intended to make software asset management practices more efficient, consistent and straightforward.
The draft standard, ISO/IEC 19770-2, is posted on the IBSMA website (http://www.ecpmedia.com/ibsma_samstds.html) for public comment until March 16.
“We expect the industry to take a major interest in these groundbreaking standards because they will ultimately affect the practices of software manufacturers and developers, as well as SAM tool providers, and of course, IT professionals,” says IBSMA Director Steven Russman.
IBSMA will gather and analyze feedback on the draft standards and incorporate it into a final version of the standards to be presented at the International Standards Organization planning meeting in Moscow, Russia, May 20-24.
The standards are expected to be a giant leap forward in software asset identification and management. Some of the major benefits of these international tag standards are:
> Improved inventory identification enhances asset managers’ ability to provide details regarding software origination, modification, dependencies and operating system platforms. > Manufacturers, publishers and vendors will make software that is easy to identify, install and use. > SAM tool providers should be able to free more resources to enhance best practices and improve product lines by virtue of the improvements made in software identification via tagging standardization.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) appointed the IBSMA to draft worldwide industry standards for software tagging and labeling in October 2006.
The IBSMA SAM Standards Committee included industry leaders at Adobe Systems, Centennial Software, BDNA Corp., CA, ECPweb, ePlus, ExpressMetrix, IBM, ManageSoft, Microsoft, Oracle, Questra Advisors, Sassafras Software, Symantec and others.
Software publishers, their customers, IT service providers and tool vendors all have a stake in adoption of standards for uniform software tagging, says Russman. "IBSMA is committed to furthering standards that thoroughly and thoughtfully address the wide-ranging needs of the software asset management industry."
About IBSMA The International Business Software Mangers Association (IBSMA) is an international association of business-focused software asset management (SAM) professionals working together to develop and promote SAM best practices and Address issues of common concern. IBSMA is a program of ECPweb.com. Visit IBSMA.com.