CA preps all-in-one bundles for SMB security and backup

Computer Associates International  plans in July to target small businesses with the release five software packages that bundle together security, backup and data migration applications.

CA's Protection Suites will combine its new Desktop DNA Migrator tool for transferring data and settings between PCs with three other applications: eTrust Antivirus, eTrust Pest Patrol Anti-Spyware and BrightStor ArcServe Backup for PC data backup and restore capabilities.

Islandia, New York-based CA began shipping an earlier version of the Protection Suites in Europe earlier this year. Next month the suites will be released in North America through CA's direct and partner channels. CA is offering five versions, priced from $325 to $1,100 for a five-user license, offering various combinations of server and PC software.

The suites are the first offering put together by CA's new SMB (small and medium business) Program Office, a unit that came into being in April with new CA Chief Executive Officer John Swainson's corporate reorganization. The unit's task is to tailor products from CA's broad software portfolio to the needs of smaller businesses, said David Luft, the group's head.

"One of the points that we heard from customers was that they didn't have time to evaluate or figure out 'what are all the different parts I need to protect my servers and desktops?'," Luft said. "They wanted to come to one vendor and make one software decision."

CA's first Protection Suites release will pull together the included, standalone products into one bundle to simplify purchasing, but deeper integration of the applications will wait for later releases. In October Luft expects to release an updated version offering a single installation procedure and linking the applications' user interfaces in a unified dashboard. A third release, already in progress, will tighten their back-end integration. Customers on maintenance subscriptions, generally priced at around 20 percent of the software's licensing cost, will receive those updates for free.

Outside North America, CA's Protection Suites will be offered through its usual partner channels; within North America, it will initially concentrate on working with several larger distributors including CDW, PC Mall and Tiger Direct. The suites will be available in 17 languages: English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Luft said his group is evaluating other CA products to see which best lend themselves to similar SMB bundles. He cited the company's Unicenter systems management line as one area likely to be tapped for a future product offering.