Computer Associates will offer four of its software products on the Linux open-source platform as part of an ongoing alliance with Red Hat, the companies announced yesterday.
By April, when it hosts its annual CA World user conference in New Orleans, CA will make widely available for the Red Hat Linux platform its ARCserveIT storage software, InoculateIT antivirus software, MasterIT Web management product and NetworkIT performance and management line for electronic-business networks.
The technology to port the four to Linux is available now, but engineers are completing the integration and final testing, Sanjay Kumar, CA president and chief operating officer, said yesterday during a joint press conference with Red Hat president and CEO Matthew Szulik.
Red Hat will set the prices for the products, Kumar said, with the sales forces of both companies working together to promote the Linux applications. CA also will resell Red Hat support and maintenance with its Unicenter TNG (The Next Generation) architecture. A Linux version of Unicenter TNG was announced last year at the LinuxWorld trade show.
CA officials at the company user conference last year said that CA was beefing up its Linux strategy, and Kumar said yesterday that the latest announcements are part of that initiative, which is being pushed by customers who want to integrate Linux into their corporate system environments.
The companies will also offer joint marketing and training. The idea, Kumar said, is to offer "one-stop support shopping" to customers. Financial terms of the deal weren't detailed, but the companies will be sharing profits derived from the alliance, which is not exclusive.
A survey of IT executives at a CA event found that 48 per cent said they intended to integrate Linux and open-source software into their corporate systems after upgrading for the year 2000 problem was past them.
"We're pleased that we're now able to jump on that opportunity," Kumar said.
He predicted that Linux offerings could amount to some 15 per cent of CA's product lines, compared to software for Unix and NT operating system platforms. CA and Red Hat will continue to integrate CA software for Red Hat Linux, he said.