CA unveils revamped, modular Unicenter 3.0

Computer Associates has officially released Unicenter 3.0, a revamped version of its flagship enterprise management software package, that boasts a modular design.

The latest version of the software, which was formerly known as Unicenter TNG, can run and be purchased as stand-alone applications. CA hopes the modular design will increase Unicenter's attractiveness to small and midsize businesses.

"It's easier to step into the product family and be able to grow with the product family and do business when you want to," said CA president and CEO Sanjay Kumar, speaking at the CA World user's conference in Orlando.

Aberdeen Group analyst Valerie O'Connell said she expects Unicenter 3.0's modularity to decrease its cost for customers.

"You don't buy all your food for a year. You buy what you want when you need it and use it as you go. This [Unicenter version] places more responsibility on the customers to know what they need," said O'Connell, Aberdeen's managing director of enterprise systems management.

More than two dozen applications now comprise the Unicenter software suite. Updated products include Unicenter 3.0 Network and Systems Management; Unicenter Web Infrastructure Management, which works in conjunction with BEA Systems' WebLogic and IBM's WebSphere Web servers; and Unicenter Service Level Management 2.0, which monitors IT resource performance.

CA expects the Service Level Management software to be among the most popular components in Unicenter 3.0, said Allan Andersen, a CA divisional vice president of marketing.

"You almost just throw the CD at the system. It's almost to that extent. It's very simple to deploy, and you get data almost instantly," Andersen said.

CA claimed that Unicenter could boost the return on investment (ROI) of midsize to large businesses by 663% over a 3-year period. Queried about that figure during a question-and-answer session, several CA customers said they've seen significant ROI improvements attributable to Unicenter.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has profited from Unicenter's off-site administration capabilities, said Bernard Gay, Royal Caribbean's vice president of enterprise technology and operations. Previously, when shipboard IT systems broke down, the company had to put someone on a plane, fly them to the ship and get them onboard to troubleshoot the problem. Now, the company can resolve about 75% of its computer glitches shoreside, through remote server administration.

"We do see aggressive ROI from that implementation, from wireless and remote management," Gay said.

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance, a nonprofit health insurer and administrator, has added only one position to its server support center in the past 4 years, a savings it attributes to Unicenter, said Randy Lengyel, the organization's corporate vice president of information systems.

CA also introduced a host of partnerships intended to support Unicenter 3.0. CA and Oracle are teaming on Unicenter Management for Oracle 9i Application Server, which ties Unicenter to the recently released latest version of Oracle's database software.

Oracle offers its own portal interface to its 9i database, with which CA is competing. Asked which portal product customers should use - Oracle's or CA's - Oracle Vice President of 9i Marketing Rene Bonvanie acknowledged the overlap in functionality and said that while Oracle encourages customers to stick with Oracle components, the company recognizes that it's not the only IT vendor.

"Unfortunately, the world does not revolve completely around Oracle," Bonvanie said. "In those situations, the Oracle economy needs partners like Computer Associates."

CA has also paired with Research in Motion Ltd. to integrate support for RIM's BlackBerry wireless handhelds into Unicenter. CA is working to develop Unicenter capability to let administrators manage a company's BlackBerry deployments through Unicenter, and to enable mobile access via BlackBerry devices to Unicenter functions such as shipping, inventory and help desk ticket tracking. Windows CE support for such functions is already built into Unicenter 3.0, said CA's Andersen, and support for the Palm operating system is in development.

Unicenter 3.0 is available through a new, tiered pricing model. The software is also covered by CA's new licensing-focused business model, introduced last November. Companies can purchase Unicenter through a variety of flexible licenses, ranging from perpetual ownership to month-to-month leasing. Further details on the pricing of specific Unicenter components will be released soon, CA said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.