Late Wednesday Computer Associates International, still digesting its purchase of network backup company Cheyenne Software Inc (CI No 3,015) announced it had acquired the AssetWorks asset and desktop management software from Digital Equipment Corp, on undisclosed terms. AssetWorks is yet another component of DEC’s PolyCenter set of systems management tools, to be added to the 15 PolyCenter products Computer Associates already acquired back in April (CI No 2,900). DEC now views all things as Microsoft-centric, and AssetWorks is in effect a version of Microsoft’s SMS Systems Management Server for Unix and OpenVMS. The Islandia, New York company plans to integrate AssetWorks with its flagship CA-Unicenter systems management suite. The new acquisition, says CA is a valuable enhancement to CA-Unicenter because it addresses both the technological and business aspects of managing assets. It will help CA customers monitor the cost of deploying and administering desktop computers. DEC personnel will jump companies to continue to help customers use AssetWorks, and DEC will later resell it as a fully-integrated CA-Unicenter option, and as a stand-alone. DEC appears to have got so near to the bottom of the barrel in its quest for things that it can sell that one begins to fear for Robert Palmer’s grandmother, if she’s still with us.
