Some of the biggest names in technology are joining forces in order to create open-source software. Nine companies - IBM, Cisco Systems, Network Appliance, Brocade, Computer Associates, Fujitsu, McData, Sun Microsystems and Engenio Information Technologies - make up the newly formed Aperi, which promises to deliver an open-source platform for managing storage devices.

Yet what has many industry analysts scratching their heads is the existence of group already working on standardization - and it's a group that some of the Aperi companies are already working with. The Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) is in the process of doing exactly what Aperi will be doing. So what does that mean for the future of standardized software? Hopefully, the two groups will share information and create a consortium of good ideas instead of competing with each other and creating confusion. Time will tell.