Open Letter to Software Publishers: Time to Pull Your Finger Out

Open Letter to Software Publishers: Time to Pull Your Finger Out

Sign the letter, make a difference

Tired of the cost and effort required to fully identify software in your estate to the level required for good SAM?

It’s time to make a stand against software publishers!

ACTION REQUIRED PLEASE

• Please sign this open letter to software publishers (Publicly or anonymously) written by Pat Cicala. In a nutshell: Dear Mr. Publisher – it is time to step up to the plate and pull your finger out regarding tags. Sign the letter – make a difference.
• Please complete the accompanying survey to validate your participation

SPREAD THE WORD

Please tell others you have signed it (I have) and offer all your SAM contacts the opportunity to press home the customer interests by signing the open letter in support of the requirement for SWID tags – published software only needs tagging once, at point-of-origin and means assets can be cost-effectively and reliably identifiable for SAM.

“In a world where most business processes are now IT-enabled, software publishers have facilitated quantum leap improvements in how most business is conducted.  Sadly, little of this extraordinary skill has been applied to the business of managing the software itself.  It is a case of “the cobbler’s children wear no shoes.” Existing automation cannot reliably address critical identification and management deficiencies.

The result is a software ecosystem that is difficult and costly to manage.  Software buyers bear most of the costs and risks of dealing with this situation, and software publishers, as a group, have not done much to help.  Some software publisher representatives have tried to improve the situation, but the independent development team structure of most software publishers slows progress.”

This open letter is a request to software publishers to act decisively and constructively to achieve a quantum leap improvement in the manageability of software and licenses.

Further Information

• Advocacy video by Pat Cicala with a message on why this is so important
• Automation of CPE Names Using Certified SWID Tags (for security)
• White paper on ‘How to get vendors to make software more manageable’, including sample contract language
• White paper detailing how to include software tagging requirements in RFP documents
• Further information about SWID tagging
• Software Identification Tags – a Strategic Solution
• Using software identification tags to enhance software asset management 
• Analysis of the accuracy and interoperability of software discovery tools
• Information about TagVault.org
• Information about how to get involved in 19770-3 development work

“Sign the letter, make a difference. The time for tagging is now” ~ Pat Cicala.