BMC to Buy ProactiveNet

By
China Martens
May 29, 2007, 6:58 PM ET
2 min read

— -- BMC Software Inc. is buying privately held ProactiveNet Inc. as a way to flesh out the analytics portion of its BSM (business service management) software.

The systems management software vendor started talking about BSM several years ago, defining it as a set of products designed to help companies better tie IT services to their business objectives by automating management processes and workflows. Over time, BSM has become a key piece of BMC's business. The software company is set to announce its fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2007 after markets close on Tuesday afternoon.

BMC announced its plan to buy ProactiveNet on Tuesday, but declined to provide any financial details about the deal. Pending ProactiveNet shareholder approval and other closing conditions, BMC hopes to complete the purchase within the next 30 days. The two companies already had a technology alliance in place.

ProactiveNet's eponymous software allows customers to collect data from their IT systems, which is then analyzed and monitored to detect any unusual activity. The software can then alert IT staff to a potential problem as well as provide suggestions about how to fix the issue. ProactiveNet can also link service-level agreements and business metrics to the performance of IT systems in real-time.

BMC believes the combination of ProactiveNet and its own performance transaction and event management software may prove timely. In the wake of much consolidation in that market segment, BMC thinks many customers may be re-evaluating their current vendor and ready to migrate to its offerings.

BMC's prime competitors are CA Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.

Founded in 1997, ProactiveNet has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, and employs over 120 staff in the U.S. and its offices in India and the U.K. The company's customers include ETrade, Hoover's Online, MoneyGram and McKesson Corp. ProactiveNet has raised over US$50 million in funding from a variety of venture capital companies and also counts Sun Microsystems Inc. and Nissho Electronics as its corporate investors. BMC expects to take on all ProactiveNet staff.