Computer Associates may not be going open-source with its product offerings, but it is using the open source distribution model—free downloads for basic functionality, payment for added functions and services—as an example of how it wants to do business in the future.
The IT management company, based in Islandia, N.Y., will introduce on April 24 a new Web-based, freely downloadable DCC (database command center) software module for Internet Explorer that database administrators can use to manage various kinds of databases through many platforms across an enterprise system from any Internet-connected computer.
DCC enables DBAs to perform a laundry list of administrative tasks—through a single-sign-on process—across Windows, Linux, Unix and mainframe databases from a browser interface without having to install any client-based software, the company said.
“This is a new development from a major [database management] vendor. This new tool makes access to data anywhere in the enterprise system very easy,” analyst Richard Ptak of Ptak Noel Associates told eWEEK.
“CA is going for sort of an ‘open-source’ play—giving away a certain set of functionality in return for possibly selling additional software and services down the line. It’s a smart move.”
Companies wishing to try the software free of charge can download it here.
Included at that site are data sheets, a flash demonstration and whitepapers—along with the download itself. Registration to the CA site is required to download the software.
Click here to read about CA’s recent management shake-up and slew of acquisitions.
The inaugural version of the command center can be used to access data from IBM’s DB2, Oracle and the open-source Ingres databases.
The next edition—expected later in 2006—will add SQL functionality, said David Schipper, CA vice president of product marketing.
Later editions also will be optimized for other browsers, CA product manager Steve Lemme told eWEEK. Mozilla’s Firefox is the next one on the list, he said.
“Using this software, a DBA will be able to simply right-click on a database table, for example, and get a pop-up window to make an action decision,” Schipper said.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: CA to Intro New Web-Based Database Control Center
