The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), the organization bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on systems management standards development, validation, promotion and adoption, today announced that storage and data management solutions and cloud provider NetApp and software, cloud and technologies services provider SunGard Availability Services have been elected to the DMTF Board of Directors. NetApp and SunGard join AMD, Broadcom, CA Technologies, Cisco, Citrix Systems Inc., EMC, Fujitsu, HP, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat and VMware to continue DMTF’s momentum in enabling interoperable IT management solutions.

DMTF is committed to protecting companies’ IT investments by creating standards and technologies that promote multi-vendor interoperability across a diverse set of platforms. DMTF has recently established itself in the cloud computing space through its Cloud Management Initiative, which includes contributions from several work groups aimed to achieve interoperable cloud management between service providers and their consumers and developers.

“NetApp is focused on driving innovation to help customers lower operating costs and move the business faster,” said David Dale, Director of Standards at NetApp, who will represent NetApp on the Board. “IT management standards can make a tremendous impact on the ease of use, efficiency and reduction in administrative overhead for our customers. We look forward to joining the DMTF Board of Directors and contributing to the organization by providing perspective and knowledge on storage management, virtualization, cloud computing and efficiency."

"Cloud computing, while still in its infancy, is fundamentally changing the IT landscape. In any such emerging discipline, standards are critical to innovation. As a service provider, SunGard brings to DMTF a unique perspective on the widespread adoption and consumption of cloud computing. We look forward to working with other technology leaders within DMTF to drive relevant, cloud-specific standards," said Chip Childers, Principal Engineer at SunGard Availability Services, who will represent SunGard on the board.

“DMTF is pleased to welcome both NetApp and SunGard to the DMTF Board of Directors,” said Josh Cohen, acting chairman of the board, DMTF. “As we continue working on developing interoperable management standards for the cloud, we are confident that NetApp and SunGard will provide valuable insight and perspective to our organizational leadership.”

About DMTF

DMTF enables more effective management of millions of IT systems worldwide by bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on the development, validation and promotion of systems management standards. The group spans the industry with 160 member companies and organizations, and more than 4,000 active participants crossing 43 countries. The DMTF board of directors is led by 17 innovative, industry-leading technology companies. They include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD); Broadcom Corporation; CA Technologies.; Cisco; Citrix Systems, Inc.; EMC; Fujitsu; HP; Huawei; IBM; Intel Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; NetApp; Oracle; Red Hat; SunGard Availability Services and VMware, Inc. With this deep and broad reach, DMTF creates standards that enable interoperable IT management. DMTF management standards are critical to enabling management interoperability among multi-vendor systems, tools and solutions within the enterprise. Information about DMTF technologies and activities can be found at http://www.dmtf.org.