BMC buys Marimba

BMC Software Inc., one of the largest enterprise management solution providers, has bought configuration software developer Marimba Inc. in the latest sign that the on demand trend in information technology management continues to heat up.

According to a statement from company officials, BMC, which competes with the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. to provide real-time management of IT resources for the enterprise, said that Marimba gives it the final part of a single enterprise IT management solution.

BMC bought Peregrine Systems Inc.'s Remedy service and support applications in 2002, and the company sees that and Marimba's automated software change and configuration management products as the package it needs to compete effectively in the real-time management arena.

Together with BMC's long-time strengths in data management, the combined technology offers customers "a complete solution that focuses on business and IT alignment solutions" for reducing costs and business risk, said Bob Beauchamp, president and chief executive officer of BMC.

To some extent, BMC is trying to catch up with its rivals. IBM, which has been pushing the idea of on-demand computing for some time, bought BMC rival Candle Corp. at the beginning of April, while HP also stepped up its claim to the market with the purchase of Novadigm Inc., widely seen as Marimba's closest competitor.

Robinson is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. He can be reached at hullite@mindspring.com.