HP to bundle Unicenter
Hewlett Packard and Computer Associates unveil an agreement to bundle the Unicenter TNG Framework in new workstations.
The two companies said their closer alliance is intended to give customers a comprehensive set of network management choices. For HP, the deal raises questions about its popular OpenView network management software platform, but executives downplayed the complications of selling and marketing HP's own software as well as CA's.
"This certainly does not mean we are discontinuing the marketing of our OpenView IT management solutions," insisted Dick Watts, HP's general manager of worldwide sales, at a press conference held at CA World.
"I guess I wish the world was a simple place and one size would fit all," Watts continued. "The fact is, the world is more complicated."
Watts said HP's goal in bundling CA's newly announced enterprise management software framework is to provide "leadership in enterprise computing environments."
The fact that HP will bundle the TNG technology in every box at no additional cost does not necessarily mean the software will be used by IT shops that prefer other platforms. HP and CA initially partnered to develop the initial version of Unicenter in the early 1990s, so it seems fitting that the two would come together as CA offers a new approach to its formerly monolithic suite of management applications.
The deal perpetuates CA chairman and CEO Charles Wang's vision of making the Unicenter platform the "de facto standard" in the industry. At the press conference, Wang set a conciliatory tone by calling for an end to the "mythical, religious war over frameworks" even as his company introduced its own. Wang said users were looking for solutions from companies, something HP is good at providing.
The framework will be available with all Unix-based HP systems by next quarter.