SPML Ratified as OASIS Standard

["Carol Geyer" <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>]

Service Provisioning Markup Language (SPML) Ratified as OASIS Standard

Abridean, BEA Systems, BMC Software, Business Layers, Computer
Associates, Entrust, Netegrity, OpenNetwork, Waveset, and Others Develop
OASIS Standard for Exchanging User, Resource, and Service Provisioning
Information

Boston, MA, USA; 19 November 2003 -- The OASIS standards consortium
today announced that its members have approved the Service Provisioning
Markup Language (SPML) version 1.0 as an OASIS Standard, a status that
signifies the highest level of ratification. SPML provides an XML-based
framework for managing the allocation of system resources within and
between organizations. Encompassing the entire life-cycle management of
resources, SPML defines the provisioning of digital services such as
user accounts and access privileges on systems, networks and
applications, as well as non-digital or physical resources such as cell
phones and credit cards.

"As provisioning becomes a more widely available network service, the
need for an open standard to support the integration of account and
service management in identity infrastructures is clear,"  says Darran
Rolls of Waveset, chair of the OASIS Provisioning Services Technical
Committee. "By fostering interoperability across business units or with
business partners, SPML frees companies to focus on the business rules
for provisioning user accounts and not on the technology to wire
everything together."

"Enterprise architects should consider SPML real and deployable," said
Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "It provides a much needed
starting point for a long-term user access provisioning strategy that
can be implemented today within the enterprise and will work in the
future for integrating with Web services implementations. We
congratulate the developers of SPML 1.0 and invite additional
participation from the community on advancing SPML 2.0 to achieve full
Web services compatibility."

Members of the OASIS Provisioning Services Technical Committee include
Abridean, BEA Systems, BMC Software, Business Layers, Computer
Associates, Entrust, Netegrity, OpenNetwork, Waveset, and other users
and providers of identity management software.

SPML relates closely to another OASIS Standard, the Security Assertion
Markup Language (SAML). Together, SPML and SAML provide a standard way
to create user accounts and validate users as part of an identity
management infrastructure. The two offer the basis for integrating
single sign-on and provisioning software for Web services.



Industry Support for SPML

BMC Software
"BMC Software is excited about the ratification of SPML as an OASIS
Standard," said Doron Cohen, Chief Architect, Security Business Unit,
BMC Software. "This is a key milestone towards wide adoption of
interoperable provisioning solutions in the marketplace.  As a leading
provisioning vendor and an active member of the OASIS Provisioning
Services Technical Committee, we are committed to helping our customers
realize the benefits and gains delivered by SPML."

Business Layers
"The ratification of SPML opens the door for interoperability of
provisioning products within the enterprise, and between enterprises",
said Adrian Viego, CTO of Business Layers. "This is an exciting step
towards true delegated administration, and with it the promise of Web
services."

Computer Associates
"SPML will reduce the cost and complexity of provisioning Web services,
helping organizations maximize the ROI on the deployment of
next-generation business solutions," said Gavenraj Sodhi, eTrust product
manager at Computer Associates. "By incorporating SPML into our eTrust
Identity and Access Management Suite -- which already supports SOAP,
SAML, and UDDI -- CA is ensuring its universal applicability and
seamless interoperability with our customers' existing Web services
architectures."

OpenNetwork
"We are pleased to see SPML accepted as an OASIS standard," said Bob
Worner, vice president of engineering for OpenNetwork. "With native
support for SPML in our flagship product, Universal IdP, our customers
can experience the benefits of securely exchanging user, resource and
service provisioning information across company boundaries, dramatically
improving business efficiency and effectiveness."

Waveset
"Waveset is proud to have been a leading contributor to the development
and adoption of the SPML specification," said Kevin Cunningham, vice
president of marketing at Waveset. "Looking forward to 2.0, we will
leverage our experience in developing the industry’s first open source
SPML toolkit, and the success of our customers’ SPML-enabled
deployments, to drive the continued standardization of a provisioning
network service."




About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org):
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards) is a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the
development, convergence, and adoption of e-business standards. Members
themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open
process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite
disparate efforts. OASIS produces worldwide standards for security, Web
services, conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing,
topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces. Founded
in 1993, OASIS has more than 2,500 participants representing over 600
organizations and individual members in 100 countries.


More information:

OASIS Provisioning Services Technical Committee
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/provision

Cover Pages Technology Report: XML-Based Provisioning Services
http://xml.coverpages.org/provisioningServices.html


Press contact:
Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS (www.oasis-open.org)
carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1.978.667.5115 x209