Update 2004-09-29: OASIS announced the formation of four new technical committees to continue the work of the DCML Organization within the OASIS DCML Member Section. The Data Center Markup Language (DCML) is an XML-based specification for representing the contents of data centers and information used in managing those contents. The new DCML TCs will support the development of a holistic set of standards related to the automated management of data center infrastructure. See details in the news story "OASIS Forms Four Technical Committees to Advance Data Center Markup Language (DCML)."

[August 30, 2004] The DCML Organization has announced a decision to move its technical and marketing activities to OASIS, organized as a new OASIS Member Section. DCML is "an open coalition of vendors and users working to advance utility computing through the development and adoption of the XML-based Data Center Markup Language."

Data Center Markup Language (DCML) is an open, vendor-neutral language used "to describe data center environments, dependencies between data center components and the policies governing management and construction of those environments. DCML provides a structured data format to describe, construct, replicate, recover and communicate about data center environments. DCML encompasses a wide array of data center elements, including UNIX, Linux, Windows and other servers, software infrastructure and applications, network components, and storage components."

A version 1.1 Data Center Markup Language Framework Specification has already been published by members of the DCML Organization, which includes over 20 of the world's leading software, service provider, and systems vendors.

The current DCML Framework Specification "defines the DCML data oriented framework for use by all DCML sub-specifications and DCML compliant management systems and tools. It utilizes a data oriented approach to solve the problem of large scale systems management, particularly in a data center environment. DCML stitches together multiple management systems and tools to form a unified management view of the environment. In this unified view, management systems can exchange domain knowledge about the environment with other management systems in the same environment. This common data oriented approach is the first step toward a unified management view of the environment, allowing systems to communicate by importing and exporting data in vocabularies of a common XML-based language.

Transitioning the activities of the DCML Organization to an OASIS DCML Member Section is designed to "promote the use of utility computing by providing a standard way to represent the IT environment and enabling data center automation and system management solutions to easily exchange information about the environment under management. The OASIS DCML Member Section will be managed by a Steering Committee made up of the existing DCML board of directors that includes Louis Blatt of Computer Associates, Darrel Thomas of EDS, and Sharmila Shahani of Opsware Inc."

From the OASIS/DCML Joint Announcement

Plans were announced today for the Data Center Markup Language (DCML) Organization to advance its specification, technical agenda, membership, and operations as part of the global OASIS standards consortium. Through this transition, DCML stands to benefit from OASIS' broad membership base — more than 3,000 participants representing over 600 organizations and individual members across 100 countries. The transition will result in the formation of the OASIS DCML Member Section, which will promote the use of utility computing by providing a standard way to represent the IT environment and enabling data center automation and system management solutions to easily exchange information about the environment under management.

"Transitioning the DCML Organization to OASIS marks the next significant milestone in the development of the specification and promises to further accelerate its adoption amongst organizations worldwide," said Louis Blatt of Computer Associates, president of the DCML Organization. Blatt noted that nearly half of OASIS member organizations represent end users, diversity which he considers, "a key factor for ensuring the broad market adoption of the DCML specification. OASIS has an impressive track record and offers DCML access to deep resources across the industry. We expect the new OASIS DCML Member Section will advance the current DCML specification to the status of an internationally accepted OASIS Standard that will allow end users to increase service levels and align their IT infrastructure with business priorities."

"The DCML Organization has demonstrated significant traction over the last nine months and garnered tremendous vendor and end-user participation. Their efforts offer exciting potential for managing the massive complexity that exists in IT environments," commented Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "We welcome the DCML community to OASIS and look forward to advancing its mission of open standardization for utility computing."

By moving its operations and technical committees under OASIS, DCML takes advantage of the international consortium's respected open technical process, transparent governance, and international reach. Founded in 1993, OASIS produces widely adopted standards for Web services, security, e-business, and standardization efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets. DCML joins a host of specifications developed at OASIS including the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), Web Services Distributed Management (WSDM), Web Services Security (WSS), and Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI).

Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst, Donna Scott, applauded the transition, saying, "OASIS is a natural fit for DCML and will provide the global participation and momentum to drive the Framework Specification forward. Today's data centers are struggling under many burdens, and specifications such as DCML could become key to achieving an efficient, automated IT infrastructure that provides the benefits of a real-time infrastructure."

The DCML Organization is an open coalition of vendors and users working to advance utility computing through the development and adoption of the Data Center Markup Language (DCML). DCML is the first, freely licensed specification that provides a structured model and encoding to describe, construct, replicate, and recover data center environments and elements. Founded in October 2003, the mission of the organization also extends to DCML certification, compliance programs, and education.