News

Precise will boost Veritas utility plan, execs say

• By Michael W. Bucken
• July 2, 2003

Veritas Software Corp. has completed its acquisition of Israeli-based software maker Precise Software Solutions for about $609 million in stock and cash. Precise had agreed to be acquired by Veritas last December.

Veritas CTO Fred van den Bosch told eADT this week that the Precise performance management offerings "fundamentally fit into our overall strategy of becoming an enabler for utility computing capabilities." van den Bosch said the Precise toolset provides the combined firm with a "critical piece" it needs to produce products for the utility computing model, which requires fast, reliable access to data and applications. Combined with the Veritas storage software, the integrated product line can provide utility computing from application to storage, he said.

van den Bosch said the Precise i3 performance management line, to be renamed Veritas i3, will continue to be developed at the former Precise facility in Israel. The company will further explain the integration plans this fall, following a closer study of the available offerings, he said.

Veritas officials define utility computing as a computing infrastructure that can deliver measurable information technology on a foundation similar to traditional electric, gas and water utilities. The Veritas model calls for offering the basic structure of utility computing -- storage management, storage automation and server provisioning -- which can improve availability, performance and automation by seamlessly linking mixed-mode data environments.

Doug Eney, vice president of systems at Carnival Cruise Lines, a customer of both Veritas and Precise, approved of the deal which he said allows his operation to go to Veritas for storage software and performance solutions and to "forgo the time and costs associated with product integration."

Another customer of both firms, Larry Lozon, vice president of EDS Web and Application Hosting at Electronic Data Systems, said the combination of the two product lines should "contribute substantial synergy to our application services."