Micromuse Inc, the San Francisco, California-headquartered UK network management software company, says it’s taking steps to fill the gaps in its product line and plans to expand into other vertical markets by the end of the year. Micromuse, which went public in the US in February (CI No 3,396), has gone from strength to strength over the past couple of quarters and analysts are predicting a rosy future for the software vendor, whose current customers include the likes of BT, Worldcom, AOL, Demon and PSINet. But the company is not without weak spots. One analyst in particular says Micromuse has lost business to competitors because its software hasn’t been able to gather data from mainframes. He also argues that the company, which only sells into the high-end telco, ISP and investment institution space, should sell into the corporate space too, where competitors like Boole & Babbage Inc are very strong. Peter Shearan, Micromuse’s SVP technical services says the company has been aware of the mainframe issue for a long time but just didn’t close it. However, he said Micromuse is working on technology, currently in beta testing at three major customer sites, to address it. The final version of the software will be released by the end of year, he said. As regards breaking into the corporate space, Shearan said the company was already selling into the sector, with large commercial companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin coming on board. But he added that Micromuse was more concerned with focusing on specific vertical sectors. Alongside the existing telecoms, ISP and investment markets, Shearan said that Micromuse planned to target retail banking, retail commerce and healthcare organizations. In terms of future technology direction, he said the company would continue to develop its flagship network management software suite, Netcool, focusing on incorporating more ‘business impact tools’ over time. He said these tools – which provide detailed analyses of the consequences of network elements failing as opposed to just reporting the failure per se – were what customers were crying out for. He said: Companies want to get more out of their data. They need to know if X happens, what does it effect? They want to know if the failure can be linked to their service level agreements and what contingency plans they should adopt. Shearan added that Micromuse would have products to address this space within the next six months.
