OTTAWA, ON – August 17, 2011 – Protecode Inc., a leading provider of open source license management solutions, today announced several major enhancements to its existing Protecode System 4™ license management software. System 4 now fully supports the Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) standard, and also includes a package pre-approval workflow application, Code Administrator™.
Sponsored by the Linux Foundation, SPDX is the result of a collaborative effort to create a standard format for communicating the components, licenses and copyrights associated with a software package. As a member of Linux Foundation, Protecode has been working with the SPDX standard body to make System 4 fully compliant with the SPDX 1.0 standard, launched today by the SPDX workgroup. The ability to read and generate SPDX information by System 4 eases license information exchange across the software supply chain, and allows for a simpler license compliance process.
“The industry and the open source community have come together to fill a need. This standard will revolutionize the way third party software and in particular open source license management is done,” said Kamal Hassin, VP, Product Management, Protecode.
Protecode Code Administrator is another workflow capability in the new release that further simplifies license compliance management in any organization. Code Administrator facilitates requesting, analysis and approval of open source and other third party software within an organization. It ensures only a well understood, pre-approved set of software packages of specific versions with defined use-cases are deployed in software projects.
Using Code Administrator, a user can request that a package be approved by submitting detailed information about the package and how it will be used within the organization. The request is then logged and its status is tracked. An administrator performs an audit of the requested package using Protecode Enterprise Analyzer™. If the package does not conflict with the organization’s established licensing policies the administrator either approves or rejects the package. Once approved the package is then made available to the organization.
Protecode System 4 ensures that unwanted open source or third party code is detected as early as possible in the software development lifecycle, reducing costs and time of fixing compliance issues before the product is released to the market.
About Protecode
Protecode provides a comprehensive solution for managing open source software licenses. Protecode System 4™ uses lightning fast code scanning that works behind the scenes in real-time with code libraries, build processes and desktops to detect and report open source licenses relative to company-defined policies. Built for ease-of-use and minimal intrusion into existing development processes, Protecode cost-effectively manages the lifecycle of open source licensing obligations. Protecode is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with partners worldwide. For more information, visit www.protecode.com.
