from the dept. Computer Associates International, Inc. said on Wednesday its software, which is used to monitor corporate computer networks, will soon be able to manage and secure wireless handheld devices like Palms and smart mobile phones through a new partnership with mobile telephony giants Motorola Inc. and Nokia . Other partners of Islandia, New York-based Computer Associates include EDS, Aether Systems Inc. and Soft Design A/S, according to the announcement, which was officially made at the CeBIT computer industry show in Hanover, Germany. Computer Associates, whose flagship UniCenter software is used to monitor computers and servers on corporate networks, is looking to capitalize on the growing use of portable computing devices by company employees. Technology consultancy Gartner Group is predicting that 60 percent of corporate employees will be using three mobile devices for work. No financial details from CA's alliances were released and no release date for the products was set. Before the announcement, Computer Associates shares ended regular trade on Nasdaq on Wednesday, at $25.30, up 2 percent from previous session. The stock is off its 52-week high of $68.25, but up around 40 percent from its low of $18.125 in late December. Analysts said that as wireless devices are increasingly used at work, they will need to be monitored as they connect to the corporate network. "You're looking at a bunch of sheep without a shepherd," said John Inverso, an analyst with Gartner. "You need the right shepherd that can keep the sheep in line." Tarkan Maner, Computer Associates' vice president of corporate marketing, said the company plans to add features including anti-virus and security authentication for wireless devices logging into corporate networks. It also will enable network managers to check on the the status of wireless devices, and provide tools that allow instant data sharing between devices and central servers. Computer Associates rival IBM Corp. is also adding wireless capabilities to its Tivoli enterprise management software, Inverso said, but neither party has introduced tangible products to market yet. < | >
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