New On-Line Service from The Open Group Could Save the User Community Millions of Dollars a Year; The Open Group Launches an On-line Service Listing Open Software Products.

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1996--The Open Group is tackling the problems facing organizations of identifying and buying suitable open software with The Open Software Registry -- an on-line World Wide Web (http://www.opensoftware.com) information service that provides a primary source of reference to locate open software products and better understand inter-product dependencies, standards conformance and portability.

Developed in conjunction with both the IT customers and the software industry, The Open Software Registry will help organizations both streamline and reduce the cost of the software procurement process, which is estimated to cost millions of dollars in both time and short-lived investment in software.

Unlike other sources of software information, The Open Software Registry is updated daily. It also incorporates a unique, independent auditing capability which tells users how strictly the listed software conforms to these standards. Already, thousands of products have been listed on the Registry making it the most complete reference guide available for open software.

Furthermore, customers benefit from anything that increases market conformance to standards. Chris Scheybeler, technical director of IXI, a division of Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), said, "If The Open Software Registry becomes one of the major procurement reference sources, then software developers will have to work hard to ensure their products reach the standard. It could well become a point of competition."

Through consultation with its members, both buyers and suppliers of software, The Open Group identified that there was a need for this service. Organizations had two problems when selecting software -- reliable and readily available information, and guaranteed standards conformance.

Paul Tanner, business development manager at The Open Group, said, "Before The Open Software Registry, there was no single, independent source of information on open software. The software procurement process is very complicated, with buyers having to navigate their way through a barrage of product information before developing an initial short list. The Open Software Registry is addressing this problem head-on."

The information provided by The Open Software Registry, such as standards compliance, inter-product dependencies and portability, will help users identify the most suitable products to meet their business needs more quickly. As a result, the time to compile a qualified short-list can be dramatically reduced and its value greatly improved.

Dick O'Donnell, director of information technologies, Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Fla., agreed that it is difficult to find information about software standards conformance. "Often it means a great deal of research involving multiple information sources such as the vendor's literature, market research and personal contacts. And for portability standards, information is usually unavailable," he said.

As Peter Holdermann, director of technology strategies, Software AG, said, "It's all about getting rid of the marketing hype. Customers are far more likely to believe a neutral third party with no ax to grind when they certify your product is entirely open and portable."

Concluding, Paul Tanner said, "Achieving effective plug and play is a very long road, that's why it is so important to our customers that we have started the journey now."

About The Open Group

The Open Group -- the combined forces of X/Open Company Limited and the Open Software Foundation

Dedicated to the advancement of multi-vendor information systems, The Open Group is an international consortium of vendors, ISVs and end-user customers from industry, government, and academia. Under The Open Group umbrella, the Open Software Foundation, Inc. (OSF) and X/Open Company Ltd. (X/Open) work together to deliver technology innovations and wide-scale adoption of open systems specifications.

The OSF hosts industry-wide, collaborative software research and development for the distributed computing environment. X/Open Company's brand mark is recognized worldwide as a guarantee of compliance to open systems specifications. The Open Group is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with European headquarters in Reading, England and offices in Menlo Park, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Brussels, Belgium; Grenoble, France and Tokyo. -0-

Note to Editors: Open Software Foundation, OSF, the OSF logo, OSF/1, OSF/Motif and Motif are registered trademarks of the Open Software Foundation, Inc. X/Open is a registered trademark and the "X" device is a trademark of X/Open Company Ltd. The Open Group is a trademark of the Open Software Foundation, Inc. and X/Open Company Ltd. UNIX is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.

CONTACT: The Open Group

Nancy Smith, 415/323-4432

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Fleishmann-Hillard

Marilyn Kilcrease, 415/356-1031

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