There's an old joke that says the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.
Standards probably get just a bit too much flak.
Despite the confusion that standards can cause, that's nothing compared to the confusion caused by a lack of standards. Today, ATA standards are developed, maintained and approved by a number of related organizations, each playing a particular role. ANSI is commonly thought of as an organization that develops and maintains standards, but in fact they do neither. They are an oversight and accrediting organization that facilitates and manages the standards development process. They qualify other organizations as Standards Developing Organizations or SDOs .