CA Technologies: WatchMouse Acquisition Enforces Cloud SLAs

Written by samdizzy
July 29, 2011

CA Technologies has made another strategic cloud-related acquisition. The latest deal involves CA buying WatchMouse B.V., which develops a SaaS-based monitoring platform for cloud, mobile and Web applications. The potential upside for VARs and MSPs is clear: It sounds like channel partners can use WatchMouse to monitor and enforce service level agreements (SLAs) with cloud services providers.

In some ways, WatchMouse sounds similar to CA’s Nimsoft division — which develops remote monitoring and management (RMM) software for mid-market MSPs. And that’s precisely the point: CA says Watchmouse will make life easier for CA and Nimsoft customers, as well as CA Application Performance Management (APM) customers.

Watchmouse has launched 60 monitoring stations in more than 40 countries, the company says. The potential upside for CA and Nimsoft partners includes the ability to:

Proactively manage the end-user experience around the world;

Quickly identify and resolve application performance issues; and,

Keep cloud vendors accountable for their service level agreements (SLAs).

So, how will CA integrate WatchMouse into its business — and how will WatchMouse solutions be sold? Here are two clues:

CA Application Performance Management (APM): CA’s APM offering helps large enterprise customers to manage their applications. WatchMouse will be sold as an add-on capability to CA APM solution, CA said.

Nimsoft: WatchMouse will be sold as a standalone capability to Nimsoft Monitor, service providers and customers a way to monitor cloud and traditional applications from outside the firewall, Nimsoft said.

There’s a broader story here as well. It involves CA’s newfound ability to acquire cloud-related companies and grow those businesses without tainting the acquisitions with legacy CA business practices. During the 1990s, I watched CA squander multiple acquisitions. More recently, CA has successfully acquired and expanded Nimsoft’s business by more than 80 percent since 2010.

We’ll be watching to see if CA repeats that success