Unicenter Tools Deliver

Computer Associates International Inc.s Unicenter Asset Management and Unicenter Software Delivery just got a lot simpler to use, and both products are well worth a look by IT managers who need to rein in operational costs while controlling a broad array of IT chores spanning midsize and large enterprise networks.

Unicenter Asset Management and Unicenter Software Delivery, both now at Version 4.0, are significant advances over previous versions because they include improvements that should shorten implementation times and reduce the complexity of performing common asset management and software distribution tasks.

eWEEK Labs tests showed that some single-purpose products—such as New Boundary Technologies Inc.s Prism Pack (on the software distribution side) and Tally Systems Corp.s TS.Census (for asset management)—were sometimes more effective in particular areas, but the Unicenter products overall were more useful for large, cross-platform installations.

Weve tested Unicenter products for more than seven years, and the latest versions of Asset Management and Software Delivery were the easiest Unicenter modules weve ever installed. This is an important step forward for the product family because it shows that an old dog—CA—is able to learn a new trick: ease of use.

To get a better idea of what was new under their respective hoods, we looked at the Unicenter products separately, although they are designed to work together as well as fit into CAs IT management platform.

In the past, weve knocked the Unicenter-integrated network and system management platform for being costly and troublesome to implement. However, the separated platform components worked well in tests and will likely alleviate cost and setup snags. Therefore, we believe both are worth consideration.