* CA is simplifying its product nomenclature
Change is afoot at CA.
After the past few years, it seems redundant to say that, what with accounting scandals, a whole new management team and more recent housecleaning. But the veteran management software maker last week announced it would do away with all its separate product names and just keep it simple.
With multiple brands and countless products — seriously, I recall CA touting some 1,250 distinct products at one point, and that was before acquisitions such as those of Concord Communications and Wily Technology — the vendor is simplifying its product nomenclature in a move that may clarify for customers CA’s capabilities. For instance, going forward management staples such as Unicenter Service Desk will be CA Service Desk and security wares such as eTrust Access Control will be CA Access Control. Over the course of 12 to 18 months, CA will rename its products as it releases and upgrades products.
Because when I think CA I also think BMC, HP and IBM (I’ve been programmed to do so), I can’t help but liken the news to a recent announcement from HP. Following the close of its $4.5 billion acquisition of Mercury Interactive, HP in similar fashion is doing away with its OpenView moniker (which in the management world is as much a household name as Kellogg’s is for breakfast treats) and simply providing the management software under the company’s entire software umbrella.
The move toward simplicity in marketing and messaging to customers may not seem like a big deal when it comes to technology and product delivery, but some industry watchers say the shift away from fancy branding could indicate a better understanding on the part of vendors of what today’s enterprise network managers need.
“I think it is an indicator of how enterprise attitudes towards their software vendors and buying patterns are changing. I think what this will mean for customers in the long run is less outbound product literature filling their inboxes and more efforts to have consultative conversations with vendor representatives,” says Jasmine Noel, a co-founder and principal analyst with industry research firm Ptak, Noel & Associates. “The solutions to IT’s most pressing management problems are cross-silo, cross-product and process-related. Enterprise buyers are looking for partners in solving these problems. CA obviously wants their brand associated with the ability to solve these problems and doesn’t want the conversations bogged down with explaining which brand does what.”
As for me, after a few edits in my early days with the label “KISS” stamped on them in red ink, I do think it’s best for vendors such as CA attempting to solve myriad IT pain points with numerous products to keep it simple. You can fill in the last word in that KISS acronym yourselves.
