2010 Best Use of Tags Contest - Winner Announced and Technical Review

The ITAM Review and TagVault.org, joint sponsors of the ‘Best Use of Tags 2010’ contest, are pleased to announce the contest’s winner. The contest was tightly contested with entries from four software vendors: Aspera, CA, Sassafras Software and Symantec.
 
The contest aimed to identify those SAM tool vendors who have recognized the necessity of using software identification (SWID) tags already deployed by Adobe Systems Inc. as well as tags that fully conform to the ISO/IEC 19770-2:2009 standard.
(Adobe’s tags in production versions of CS 4 were developed before the ISO/IEC 19770-2:2009 standard was finalized. Although they are not fully compliant with the standard, the information provided in the software tag can be utilized to clearly differentiate between a product that was installed as a stand-alone product, and one that was installed as part of a suite. Information about Adobe’s SWID tags was provided to contestants.)
 

Full Disclosure:  TagVault.org is a non-profit program of IEEE-ISTO and is managed by a board of directors currently made up of the founding members.  CA and Symantec are founding members and have provided funding to support the TagVault.org program.  Sassafras Software is currently an Adopter member in TagVault.org and Aspera is not currently a member.  Neither Aspera, nor Sassafras Software have provided any financial support to TagVault.org and though both companies are welcomed to either join the program or increase their membership level, there is no requirement or expectation placed on either organization based on their involvement in the contest.

Judging of the contest was done by Steve Klos of TagVault.org and Martin Thompson of ITAM Review.  The winners of the contest were chosen based solely on the demonstrations provided to both judges and the judging was done based on review of issues identified for the contest scenario as well as the technical merits of the product demonstration, without membership, or financial issues being considered.  The order of the winning products/companies was unanimous and without contention.
 
Contestants were provided with a set of tags prior to a presentation interview. They also received a scenario that provided context for their data analysis and reporting. The scenario was around a marketing organisation that used a combination of Adobe CS 4 products, installed both individually and as part of a suite, across both Windows and Macintosh computers. The sample data set included trial versions of software, as well as retail products with duplicate serial numbers.
 
Contestants were given one hour to present their solution to a judging panel comprising Martin Thompson, Editor of The ITAM Review and Steve Klos, Executive Director of TagVault.org.
 
Contestants were (in alphabetical order):
 
The judges were impressed with the high calibre of entries, and TagVault.org Executive Director Steve Klos has compiled and narrated a video with more details about each contestant’s entry, including screenshots and explanations of particular strengths and technical findings. 
 

Watch the TagVault.org contest summary Video

Learn more about the winners