CA Extends Cloud Push with Layer 7 Buy

While CA is best known for its mainframe management software, app development, systems administration and identity management tools, it is also no secret that the company has assembled a strong portfolio of cloud migration and management wares.

At last week's CA World conference in Las Vegas, the company made clear it's not stepping back from expanding its cloud focus on a number of levels. That's no surprise, considering the company tapped former Taleo chief Michael Gregoire as its new CEO late last year. Taleo was a Software as a Service-based provider that was sold to Oracle for $1.9 billion.

During the conference, CA said it has acquired Layer 7, whose secure API offering will bolster its identity and access management suite (which includes SiteMinder) with the aim of providing added cloud security services. CA said it would also tie Layer 7 into its DevOps offerings, notably the LISA suite.

"It can be argued that CA Technologies has long been committed to mobile computing and SaaS, but with the arrival of Mike Gregoire, commitment to these strategic initiatives is more overt," wrote Joe and Jane Clabby of Clabby Analytics in a research note. "As for Big Data analytics and DevOps, we had not heard any formal commitment from CA Technologies before on these strategic growth areas, so we consider them new initiatives."

While CA has emphasized Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and SaaS for several years, Gregoire plans to make the latter the clear focus going forward, according to the Clabby report.

"Gregoire indicated that he planned to talk to CA Technologies customers over the next year about potential new ways to restructure enterprise licensing so businesses can constantly run the newest versions of CA Technologies software," the report said. That would presumably mean transforming to more of a SaaS-based model.

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 05/02/2013 at 12:49 PM