CA and HP target disgruntled Peregrine users

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By Denise Dubie

(IDG) -- Hewlett-Packard and Computer Associates have detailed plans to lure disgruntled Tivoli and Remedy users away from Peregrine, but analysts suggest companies should evaluate Peregrine's future plans before considering alternatives.

Peregrine, most well-known as an asset management software vendor, has been adding to its product portfolio since last August when it purchased Loran Technologies. The acquisition gave Peregrine capabilities in infrastracture management and e-business support products. The Tivoli and Remedy products further expand its software offerings.

HP, at its June OpenView 2001 user show, and CA, at its July CA World user conference, announced plans for customers seeking an alternative to Peregrine's ServiceCenter and AssetCenter products. The vendors are targeting users who are unhappy with Peregrine's June 2001 acquisition of help desk software developer Remedy and its December 2000 purchase of Tivoli's Service Desk suite.

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Jasmine Noel an analyst with the Hurwitz Group said HP and CA want to target customers, "who have vowed never to work with a particular company," but believes the competitors should focus more on providing less expensive and easy to use products.

HP and CA want to attract the 11,000 or so customers Peregrine inherited through its Tivoli and Remedy deals. The rival vendors also saw an opening when Peregrine confirmed that it would not release Version 7.0 of Tivoli Service Desk and would stop supporting the product by 2003.

Ironically, before it was acquired by Peregrine, Remedy approached Tivoli customers about transferring to Remedy products, rather than use Peregrine tools. At that time, industry watchers had warned that Peregrine must consider options for Tivoli customers in terms of upgrades.

Gartner analyst Kris Brittain said HP and CA have comparable products, but "Peregrine and Remedy today lead with a more feature rich and complete Consolidated Service Desk tool."

"The motivation for a client to look at these offers will be based on dissatisfaction with Peregrine/Remedy's migration path and/or costs associated with the application," Brittain said.

HP is touting its OpenView ServiceDesk product against comparable Tivoli and Remedy products, while CA says its Asset Management, Remote Control and Events Management products could work with or replace competing products.

Until Oct. 15, HP is offering a 50 percent discount off the end-user list price across any quantity of OpenView Service Desk Modules. The discount also applies to Support Upgrade Options purchased with the Service Disk Licenses.

CA is offering a free two-day assessment of potential customers' help desks and has offered to match the licenses they own for Tivoli or Remedy products.