HP to buy software firms

Hewlett-Packard Co. will add some new automation capabilities to its OpenView management suite with the acquisitions of Consera Software Inc. and Novadigm Inc. HP announced its intent to acquire the companies today.

"Management software is the next big frontier" for information technology, said Nora Denzel, senior vice president of HP Adaptive Enterprise, in a statement. "It's clear that the race is on to deliver [to chief information officers] the automated, integrated management solutions they need to increase agility and capitalize on change. "

According to Denzel, citing IDC figures, management software revenues will reach $10.1 billion worldwide by 2007.

Novadigm's technology automates the standardized deployment of IT changes in a mixed environment, according to HP officials. It also automates configuration management. Consera offers a service modeling software to enable users to design a standardized IT environment.

HP will pay about $121 million for Novadigm, according to a spokesperson. HP already owns about 5 percent of its stock. Terms of the Consera acquisition were not disclosed.