DELIVERING THE ULTIMATE MANAGER FOR DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING, COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SHIPS CA-UNICENTER TNG; Widely-Acclaimed Solution Brings Global IT Infrastructure Under Control Through Object-Oriented, Scalable Manager/Agent Architecture Delivers End-To-End Management, From Mainframe To Internet.

ISLANDIA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1996--Computer Associates today began shipping CA-Unicenter TNG, the first enterprise management solution to let organizations view and manage their entire information technology environment--from the mainframe to the Internet--end-to-end.

Unlike platform or function-specific point solutions that manage only a single resource such as a network or system, CA-Unicenter TNG reaches out to every IT resource--including hardware, networks, databases and applications--regardless of type or location.

"Organizations can't get their arms around today's distributed computing environments," said CA Chairman and CEO Charles B. Wang. "There's just too much to manage on too many platforms in too many locations, and the change is relentless." "CA-Unicenter TNG makes the global IT infrastructure manageable by providing end-to-end control of every computing platform and information technology resource," said Wang. "It supports even the most diverse IT environments. Size, complexity and technology are no longer barriers to decision making. With CA-Unicenter TNG, you can see both the forest and the trees."

Through its object-oriented manager/agent architecture, CA-Unicenter TNG creates an integrated, open and scalable management solution, fully extensible by third parties and CA clients. All management functions use its object repository--custom designed for enterprise management--to store information about managed objects, their properties and relationships. Managers and agents can be deployed in any configuration to monitor and report on the status of all managed objects.

CA-Unicenter TNG provides a complete picture of all IT resources involved in a specific business function, allowing business users to view the enterprise from their own perspective. Its unique Business Process Views allow organizations to map business policies to resource requirements, and then monitor these resources within a particular business context. An order processing view, for example, only displays resources relevant to order processing. If a problem occurs, the associated resource can be immediately located without distraction from resources related to other parts of the business.

"CA-Unicenter TNG's Business Process Views are the only way that we will be able to administer the enormous complexity of our vastly-distributed IT environment," said Steve Rees, director, computer services at Tektronix, Beaverton, OR. "Removing extraneous information brings to light critical network, systems, database and application faults."

By displaying the enterprise's IT environment through 3-D object rendering and animation, CA-Unicenter TNG's Real World Interface makes it easy to visualize and immediately grasp relationships between system components. If a flood occurs in a facility in Nebraska, for example, a system manager can navigate to all affected resources in the state, city, building, network and node, right down to the impacted databases, applications and individual business transactions.

"Most user interfaces are designed for technicians and the IT environment is presented as an abstraction to the way people work," said Wang. "There's too much data and not enough information. Understanding and managing the growing complexity of IT environments is becoming increasingly difficult using traditional GUIs. CA-Unicenter TNG introduces an entirely new user interface paradigm that models the real world and the manner in which people work."

CA-Unicenter TNG was designed specifically to work with products developed by clients and third-party vendors. All management functions share a common architecture and information across applications and platforms. These functions are available to developers through the CA-Unicenter TNG Software Developers' Kit. The SDK offers a rich set of services and applications which accelerate the delivery of client and third-party solutions, without the risks and costs inherent in building an infrastructure.

"We're using CA-Unicenter TNG because it allows us to instrument business-critical applications to a level not possible with any technology we found before," said Steve Ruegnitz, first vice president of Lehman Brothers, Jersey City, NJ.

Applications also can be ported quickly to CA-Unicenter-supported platforms, including all major versions of Unix, Windows NT and AS/400. Existing applications can be integrated with CA-Unicenter TNG without being rewritten, offering additional asset protection. Because CA-Unicenter TNG is a layered architecture, developers can initially integrate solutions at one level and increase the degree of integration over time.

Widespread Industry Support

Prominent industry leaders and analysts lined up today in support of CA-Unicenter TNG, saying it will create a new class of enterprise management solutions (note to editors: see accompanying release). Platform providers such as Compaq, Data General, Digital, Fujitsu Limited, Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel, Microsoft, NCR, Netscape Communications Corp., Pyramid, Tandem and Unisys, along with more than a dozen software partners and service providers, are working with CA to help clients adopt a business-centric approach to IT management through CA-Unicenter TNG.

"It is possible that CA-Unicenter TNG will not only revolutionize the world of systems and network management but will also find applications beyond that realm," said R. Paul Mason, director, enterprise systems management program, International Data Corp, Framingham, MA.

Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA), with headquarters in Islandia, N.Y., is the world leader in mission-critical business software. The company develops, licenses and supports more than 500 integrated products that include systems and database management, application development, manufacturing and financial applications. CA has 9,000 people in 130 offices in 38 countries and had revenue of $3.2 billion in calendar year 1995. CA can be reached by visiting http://www.cai.com on the World Wide Web or emailing [e-mail].

All referenced product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Computer Associates, Islandia

Bob Gordon, 516/342-2391, [e-mail]