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<span class="artsectiontitle">Software</span>
<br>
<span class="mainarttitle"><span class="mainarttitle">There's A New
Grid In Town</span>
<br>
</span><span class="mainartauthor">Quentin Hardy,<span
class="mainartdate"> 12.06.04, 7:28 AM ET</span></span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">SAN FRANCISCO - Now that computer systems are
bigger and more complex than ever before, industry titan <b><a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=168533">William
Coleman</a></b> figures, it is time they learned how to run themselves.
</span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">"We're heading for self-configuration" of
computer systems, says Coleman, founder of <b>BEA Systems</b> (nasdaq:
<a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=BEAS"
class="maintkrlink">BEAS</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=BEAS">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=BEAS">
people </a>),
who left that company last year to start Cassatt, a software company
aiming to steer that self-configuration. "With the commoditization of
the computing world, we have to automate information technology
operations." Cassatt is backed by Warburg Pincus with a reported $50
million investment. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">Cassatt has been in stealth for over a year,
while attracting senior development executives from <b>Sun Microsystems</b>
(nasdaq: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=SUNW"
class="maintkrlink">SUNW</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=SUNW">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=SUNW">
people </a>), <b>Oracle</b> (nasdaq: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=ORCL"
class="maintkrlink">ORCL</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=ORCL">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=ORCL">
people </a>) and <b>Novell</b> (nasdaq: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=NOVL"
class="maintkrlink">NOVL</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=NOVL">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=NOVL">
people </a>),
as well as the former chief information officer of the U.S. federal
government. Today, Cassatt will announce its first product, software
for automated management of large systems of computer servers and
applications. Coleman says the software will be able dynamically
allocate previously dedicated servers to different tasks as needed
through so-called "virtualization" of servers, fixing problems on the
fly and only telling their human managers about it afterward. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">The software costs about $25,000 for the
controlling software, and $1,500 per server managed. Thus, a system of
30 servers would cost $70,000 -- $25,000 for the brain and $45,000 for
the individual managers. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">Coleman faces big competition in the market:
Besides Sun, <b>Hewlett Packard</b> (nyse: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=HPQ"
class="maintkrlink">HPQ</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=HPQ">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=HPQ">
people </a>) offers its Openview software for system management. <b>IBM</b>
(nyse: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=IBM"
class="maintkrlink">IBM</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=IBM">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=IBM">
people </a>), which has been pushing its own "On Demand" software, is
said to be a Cassatt partner. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">Coleman says that the current push among
customers for lower prices and open systems pushed IBM to him. "If they
could yet spend more money and make things more and more complicated"
they would, he says, but "IBM has to adapt to this -- the world won't
go in for On Demand to cost more money and tie it to a single vendor." </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">Both HP and IBM, Coleman says, "aren't
competing with us, they are competing with where technology and the
economy are going. They have to adapt -- we can help them get there." </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">The company says it has about 40 customers,
including <b>Informatica</b> (nasdaq: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=INFA"
class="maintkrlink">INFA</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=INFA">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=INFA">
people </a>), <b>Ascential Software</b> (nasdaq: <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=ASCL"
class="maintkrlink">ASCL</a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=ASCL">
news </a> - <a
href="http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=ASCL">
people </a>)
and a program for the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as a large
pharmaceutical manufacturer. If things go as planned, a new version of
the product, incorporating more sophisticated virtualization techniques
to turn many computers into a single giant grid, will be announced in
the spring. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">Coleman says Cassatt marks the start of a
fourth ten-year cycle in computer technology. The previous ones include
exploration of the capabilities of the semiconductor, resulting in the
personal computer; their growth into client-server networks; and the
maturation of that into the Internet and Web services architectures. </span>
<br>
<br>
<span class="mainarttxt">In each case, both the capabilities and the
geography of electronic intelligence grew vastly larger. In the new
era, says Coleman, "the footprint is the globe, always connected -- the
productivity enhancements will surpass everything we've seen before." </span>
<br>
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