Flexera Software's combined producer-side and enterprise-side software licensing expertise will aid in formulating workable Cloud licensing standards

Maidenhead, UK - August 30, 2011 - Flexera Software, the leading provider of strategic Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and their customers, today announced that it has joined the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), a technology industry consortium that enables more effective management of millions of IT systems worldwide by bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on the development, validation and promotion of systems management standards.

Flexera Software is joining DMTF's software license management incubator to help identify and create proposed standards on licensing requirements for interoperability between software producers, enterprises, and Cloud-based managed service providers. Flexera Software has extensive experience in software licensing issues and is viewed as the market leader. The software producers and intelligent device manufacturers that deploy Flexera Software's licensing, compliance and entitlement management solutions are responsible for more than $50 billion in annual software sales, and deliver their products to more than 3.5 million customers around the world. Flexera Software's solutions are embedded in more than 20,000 software and intelligent device applications.

The Cloud provides great flexibility and options for licensing but also creates numerous challenges. Up until the Cloud paradigm shift - both producers and consumers have worked together to determine the best approach to license, distribute, and report on application usage. With the Cloud - both are challenged to determine the best pathway to distribute and audit applications across multiple Clouds/networks via Cloud hosters/providers.  As a member of the DMTF incubator, Flexera Software will apply its expertise and experience to assist in designing solutions across the three paradigms (producers, consumers, hosters - or Cloud providers). The objective will be to clarify the Cloud licensing confusion and eliminate a major hurdle of Cloud adoption by automating new processes through standards across consumers, producers, and providers.

"We're thrilled to welcome Flexera Software to DMTF," said Winston Bumpus, DMTF president. "Having an industry leader with Flexera Software's depth and breadth of understanding around software licensing and usage management - across producers and consumers - will help us establish practical standards that take into account the needs of both groups. These standards will have an impact on Cloud computing for years to come."

"We are excited that DMTF has established an incubator to help clarify and address the challenges around software licensing in the Cloud, which confront both software producers and consumers, " said David Znidarsic, vice president of technology at Flexera Software. "Licensing has been a big hurdle for many enterprises and software producers seeking to make the leap from traditional hosted models to burst-of-use, per-minute and other software delivery methods. Developing standards across various pillars will help automation of key tasks that make it difficult for both sides of the market. We are honored to have been asked to be part of the group that will help resolve these issues and facilitate the successful growth of Cloud computing."