Micromuse adds to management arsenal

Micromuse announced last week it has acquired a former OEM partner for $23 million in a deal designed to complement its strength in network management with applications and system management capabilities.

The maker of the Netcool service assurance software suite is buying Network Harmoni, an Australian company that develops agent software for managing systems and applications. Under an OEM agreement that went into effect in April 2002, Micromuse has used Network Harmoni's agents in its Netcool/System Service Monitors and Netcool/Application Service Monitors, both of which sit on managed devices to collect data and feed it to Netcool's administration console.

Micromuse executives say the acquisition will give the company more control of agent development and help it deliver products to customers more quickly. Micromuse says 90 of its customers have Network Harmoni technology installed. Network Harmoni says its software is used in more than 5,000 customer networks worldwide, which gives Micromuse a possible entrée to even more sites. Micromuse also gets Network Harmoni's OpCenter product, a lightweight IT management system tailored for small and midsize companies.

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Micromuse announced last week it has acquired a former OEM partner for $23 million in a deal designed to complement its strength in network management with applications and system management capabilities.

The maker of the Netcool service assurance software suite is buying Network Harmoni, an Australian company that develops agent software for managing systems and applications. Under an OEM agreement that went into effect in April 2002, Micromuse has used Network Harmoni's agents in its Netcool/System Service Monitors and Netcool/Application Service Monitors, both of which sit on managed devices to collect data and feed it to Netcool's administration console.

Micromuse executives say the acquisition will give the company more control of agent development and help it deliver products to customers more quickly. Micromuse says 90 of its customers have Network Harmoni technology installed. Network Harmoni says its software is used in more than 5,000 customer networks worldwide, which gives Micromuse a possible entrée to even more sites. Micromuse also gets Network Harmoni's OpCenter product, a lightweight IT management system tailored for small and midsize companies.

Micromuse, which closed a successful third quarter in June garnering $33 million in revenue, also has opted to acquire technology in the past.

The company in June 2002 bought RiverSoft for $63 million, and company executives say Micromuse will continue to consider acquisition an option to new technologies. When it reported earnings, Micromuse had about $212 million in cash and investments, had recently won 45 new customers and maintained a 90% renewal rate among existing customers.

Craig Farrell, Network Harmoni CEO and CTO, now joins Micromuse as its CTO. Micromuse recently added former Juniper executive Lloyd Carney as its chairman and CEO.

Read more about infrastructure management in Network World's Infrastructure Management section.