Computer Associates has agreed to acquire Cybermation in a $75m cash transaction.

Cybermation specializes in enterprise workload automation that let IT administrators automate and schedule workloads across mainframe and distributed systems. The technology allows staff to perform and manage recurring tasks such as payroll processing and running inventory reports and balance those with everyday workloads.

The Cybemation software offers advanced capabilities that for instance allow for event driven process automation based on preset policies.

"[Cybemation] will help us fulfill our vision for enterprise workload automation and provide customers with unprecedented control and automation of production workloads," said Alan Nugent, senior vice president and general manager of CA's Enterprise Systems Management Business Unit.

The software will be integrated into CA's portfolio of automation solutions and in the short term will remain to be sold as a stand alone product.

Analyst firm IDC predicts that the job automation market will grow to $1.77bn by 2010. CA currently ranks as the largest vendor in that segment with a 20.2 per cent market share, according to the firm's data.