CA buys Nimsoft to expand cloud computing services

CA continued its shopping spree, agreeing to buy IT management software maker Nimsoft for $350 million. 

The deal, expected to close by the end of this month, will give CA more tools to help customers manage cloud computing environments and cloud services, CA said in a press release.

By adding Nimsoft's IT service assurance technologies to its portfolio, CA will be able to add more managed service providers to its customer roster, which is mostly comprised of large enterprises.

The acquisition follows on the heels of CA's buyout last month of 3Tera, a move that industry watchers said at the time would equip CA with tools to offer customers a smoother transition to private and public cloud computing.

CA acquired Cassatt last summer and Oblicore earlier this year, and the company cited cloud ambitions at the time of those separate deals as well.

"With our planned acquisition of Nimsoft, CA will be equipped to capture several important growth market segments — including emerging enterprises, emerging national economies, and the MSPs who are providing these customers with IT management services via the cloud," said Chris O'Malley, CA's executive vice president, Cloud Products and Solutions Business Line, in a CA press release. "Penetration of these markets will further expand our global leadership in IT management and complement our existing strength with large enterprise customers."

Nimsoft was founded as Nimbus Software in 1998 and renamed Nimsoft in 2004. It has approximately 800 customers, including nearly 300 MSPs, according to CA. The company positioned itself as an alternative to the "Big Four" management software vendors, CA being one. Nimsoft had previously joined forces with competitor Indicative Software and acquired the assets of management software maker Cittio. 

"CA and Nimsoft are a perfect match," said Gary Read, Nimsoft president and CEO, who will be joining CA. "We are joining a company that wrote the book on enterprise management. We're bringing a very strong track record of success in the hosted and managed services segment and with mid-market enterprises. CA clearly shares our commitment to address customers' evolving requirements for the management of their IT systems, including their move to virtualization and the cloud."

According to CA, Nimsoft's operations will report under CA's Cloud Products and Solutions Business Line. CA expects most of Nimsoft's approximately 120 employees to remain with CA after the completion of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of CA's fourth fiscal quarter, ending March 31, 2010.