Systinet's founder and Vice President of Products, Roman Stanek, said it would be up to consumers and partners to decide what to support. A GIF 2 release is being developed, to feature a more extensive set of APIs and standards.

But panelist Charles Stack, CEO of Flashline, shot back, "It doesn't benefit to have a standard that is not a standard."

GIF is to be submitted to a standards body, Stanek responded.

"The goal of GIF and the goal of SOA Link is actually to make the whole lifecycle visible," Stanek said. Systinet is now owned by Mercury Interactive, after an acquisition announced in January.

Panelist Brent Carlson, vice president of technology at LogicLibrary, said major vendors would forcefully put their own stamps on governance. "They will put their fingerprints all over the place," he said. Stanek said GIF does have the backing of HP and BEA Systems.