CA Technologies unveils cloud management tools

The renamed CA, now known as CA Technologies, has introduced software to help organisations integrate cloud-based IT resources into their internal infrastructure and then manage the two as a coherent whole.

The products in the Cloud-Connected Management Suite — Cloud Insight, Cloud Compose, Cloud Optimize and Cloud Orchestrate — are based partly on existing tools such as Oblicore and AppLogic. They are set for release from the autumn onward, the company said in its announcement on Monday.

The suite is designed to help businesses deal with the complexity offered by the advent of cloud computing, which turns a company's IT infrastructure into an "IT supply chain", said Chris O'Malley, executive vice president of CA Technologies' cloud business line.

"As companies embrace cloud computing, they increasingly partner with whichever external providers can best help them meet their changing requirements," O'Malley said in a statement. "This means an organisation's ability to gain competitive advantages from technology will be contingent upon their ability to continuously optimise their IT supply chains."

The suite will draw on a component that has already been launched, Cloud Commons. The portal, which CA Technologies compares to TripAdvisor, includes information, feedback, case studies and expert advice on cloud services. Cloud Commons launched on Sunday.

The upcoming tools will be integrated with Cloud Commons, allowing organisations to compare their internal services and existing cloud-based services to a wide range of other options.

For instance, Cloud Insight will provide a standardised Service Measurement Index (SMI) designed to allow companies to assess their internal and external IT services relative to their business priorities. Organisations can then compare these SMI rankings to those found on the Cloud Commons to make decisions about which cloud-based resource best meet their needs at any given time, CA Technologies said.

Cloud Insight is based on technologies CA Technologies acquired with the purchase of Oblicore in January..

Cloud Compose is based on AppLogic from from 3Tera, which CA Technologies bought in February. It allows companies to build a compute cloud, then construct and deploy services into that cloud and finally manage the deployed services.

The tool uses a catalogue of reusable software components and provides high availability, metering, operations monitoring and management features, according to CA Technologies.

Cloud Optimize is intended to help companies use SMI measurements and Cloud Commons data to analyse their internal and external infrastructure and so get better value from it. The product is based partly on technology from Cassatt, which CA Technologies acquired in June last year.

Finally, Cloud Orchestrate uses features such as workflow control and policy-based automation of changes to service infrastructures, with the aim of making it easier for companies to implement the ideas supplied by Insight, Compose and Optimize.

Insight and Compose will be released in October, with Optimize set to arrive next April and Orchestrate following later in 2011, CA Technologies said. Pricing information has not yet been disclosed.

The products were announced at CA World in Las Vegas, where CA Technologies also announced it plans to offer a cloud-based option for more of its management products. During the conference, O'Malley demonstrated an on-demand version of Nimsoft as an example of what CA Technologies is planning.