Extend, manage, secure: The new battle cry from Attachmate

The recent $495 million acquisition of NetIQ by Attachmate carries positive implications for clients of both companies. This is the word from Sven Kniest, director, Business Development EMEA at NetIQ.

"Taken together, the combined companies' products allow clients to address a wide range of joint and separate corporate issues," says Kniest, in South Africa to meet with clients of both Attachmate and local NetIQ distributor 10Net. "They also lay the foundation for a strategy for growth."

This could mean that the combined entity can begin targeting other complementary vendors for acquisition to further increase its footprint and relevance with customers.

Attachmate has 40 000 customers in more than 60 countries and is among the top 10 largest privately held software companies. In effect, Attachmate services the bulk of the Global 10 000.

"Attachmate and WRQ have been around for decades," says Kniest, "providing terminal emulation, legacy integration and secure communications. The merger of Attachmate and WRQ, along with the acquisition of OnDemand, has enabled the company to address broader market requirements, including access to legacy and proprietary HP platforms and PC lifecycle management. NetIQ, in turn, is largely a systems, application and security management vendor focused on the Windows, Unix and Linux markets."

Combining all of these entities provides Attachmate with a broad portfolio of products for IT operations. In line with its focus on profitability, NetIQ has consolidated its product offering around a service assurance strategy.

Attachmate, in turn, has reached a great level of maturity in its markets, and its strategy for growth has been through acquisition. As in a consolidating market, the largest companies tend to have the best chance of survival, and they tend to drive the largest profits.

The acquisition of NetIQ gives Attachmate a broader strategy, one Kniest says its clients can use to "extend, manage and secure" their mission-critical IT systems.

Another key benefit for NetIQ clients arises from the fact that the company is no longer public - it has been delisted and Attachmate has always been privately held.

"There is also significant potential for cross-selling," adds Kniest. "Attachmate has very loyal, long-term customers who represent a major target market for NetIQ products. IT operations is the common buying entity for both sets of products."

While a number of commentators in the market could not initially see the synergy and commonality between Attachmate and NetIQ, Kniest says they are brought together by a common focus on IT operations, with specific reference to strategic topics:

* SOA (service-oriented architecture), which is enabled by Attachmate's host connectivity.
* ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) and regulatory compliance, which is consuming the attention of IT managers, and is eased through NetIQ's range of capacity management and change management offerings.
* Innovative PC lifecycle management solution from On Demand.
* Compliance, which is eased if a company has the appropriate infrastructure in place, and is addressed by NetIQ's products.

"The common hook is IT operations and security: Attachmate's new product portfolio allows IT management to ensure their infrastructure is in compliance with policies and service level agreements, extend the reach of strategic platforms and applications and manage changes throughout the PC lifecycle." notes Kniest.

In terms of the competitive landscape, Attachmate now finds itself in the same space as CA, IBM, Compuware, HP and BMC.