IBM Corp has sold the marketing rights for its CICS PD/MVS problem determination tool, for an undisclosed sum, back to Compuware Corp, the company that originally developed the system in 1989. In addition, the two companies are entering into a joint development agreement for the CICS problem determination environment. At first glance perhaps, it appears an odd move for IBM, given its stated commitment to software and services. The reasoning, however, is that problem determination is not a ‘core competency’ and so IBM is happy to relinquish its responsibility and concentrate on further CICS development. Detroit, Michigan-based Compuware says the deal will enable it to release CICS fault diagnosis products the same time as new IBM CICS releases, so giving it as much as a three-month lead over its rivals. Collaborating with IBM’s Hampshire-based Hursley Park Laboratories will also be useful from a strategic viewpoint as it will enable Compuware to keep up with any other IBM CICS developments, particularly moves to implement the system for new environments, for instance the AS/400. Though it has made its name as a mainframe software house, Compuware is keen to broaden its horizons. Already it is planning workstation versions of its XPediter debugging tool and File-Aid file manipulation tool and is also working on a client-server product strategy. Its plans for the CICS business, meantime, include a hybrid system combining elements of PD/MVS; Radar, its regional analysis tool; and Eyewitness, the fault diagnostic tool it has just acquired from its Vienna, Virginia-based rival Landmark Systems Corp (CI No 2,044). The first version of this system is planned for release in a few months. Compuware is set to acquire some 900 new customers under its deal with Landmark, in addition to the 200 PD/MVS contracts it will inherit from IBM. The combined total will almost double its CICS user base to 2,500. Its share of the CICS market is also expected to rise 10% which reportedly could well boost its turnover by $20m. Its share of the CICS tools market in 1992 stood at 25% according to analyst Xephon Plc. Compuware’s turnover increased 30% to $62.2m last quarter, a growth rate it reckons continued in its fourth quarter.
