MVS software shop Isogon Corp is hoping to turn the license management software business on its ear by using iFOR, the Gradient Technologies Inc open systems license management application for which it has assumed all development and marketing responsibility. The New York city company hasn’t actually acquired iFOR, but Gradient’s interest is now focused on […]
MVS software shop Isogon Corp is hoping to turn the license management software business on its ear by using iFOR, the Gradient Technologies Inc open systems license management application for which it has assumed all development and marketing responsibility. The New York city company hasn’t actually acquired iFOR, but Gradient’s interest is now focused on its NetCrusader internet security and application services suite, so Isogon’s got a perpetual license to the technology. Instead of competing with license management market leaders Globetrotter Software Inc, and Elan Computer Group Inc, Isogon wants to forge agreements with these and other companies that will enable an enhanced version of IFOR to use data stored in Globetrotter, Elan and other license management knowledge bases. It’s happy to leave the collection of data about organisations’ application usage to others ISVs, what it wants to do is use the information to enable companies to develop usage policies and publish reports, model likely license loads, plan license upgrades ahead of time, predict the affect on application use and administer licencing arrangements. It says it will share iFOR APIs with other license management companies if they will share their data. Of course iFOR can be used to collect the information as well, and it’s already embedded into a number of vendor’s operating systems for use in that capacity already, including IBM, HP, Sun, Sequent, NCR and SCO. Isogon plans to go even further and is seeking to have ISVs enable their applications to be iFOR-aware. Isogon claims there are already around 100 users of iFOR, including Dassault Systemes SA, which has enabled its Catia CAD/CAM software to work with the package. Initially Isogon will rename the package LicensePoweriFOR, for the knowledge database that underlies its MVS-based SoftAudit/One software asset management tool. There’ll be a new release at the end of the summer. Version 2 of LicensePower is in beta. iFOR is up on Unix, VMS, Windows and OS/2. Isogon says it will support Open Group and Guide license management APIs when they are standardized.
