When Ron Moritz agreed to head up Computer Associates International's (CA's) newly reorganized eTrust security products unit he knew he was taking on a big job. Well known for its Unicenter systems management product, CA's profile in the security market was considerably lower.

Nevertheless, CA's years of ravenous acquisition left a wealth of security products in its portfolio, ranging from desktop antivirus software right through to security products for mainframes.

The problem was that there was no consistent message or plan that tied its various offerings together.

As in other areas of their business, CA also suffered from a reputation as an opaque customer service organization and a customer base frustrated by CA's predilection for long-term and inflexible licensing arrangements.

[ Read more ]