Novell has acquired new service management capabilities with the purchase of Managed Objects for an undisclosed sum.

The Managed Objects portfolio of products allows IT departments to monitor and manage the availability and performance of applications and services they deliver to the business.

The company's flagship CMDB360 database technology reduces the potential risks associated with IT change and can automate the implementation of configuration management database (CMDB) practices, Novell said.

"This acquisition extends Novell's strategy of making IT work as one in the datacentre," said Joe Wagner, Novell senior vice president of systems and resource management.

"By adding the Managed Objects toolset to the Novell portfolio of datacentre solutions, we are unique in providing technology-agnostic and proven cross-platform solutions that span both the physical and virtual worlds, all in a unified view."

Butler Group senior analyst Roy Illsley pointed out that Managed Objects would still be able to remain a "non-proprietary" and "completely independent provider" as it describes itself on its web site.

"Remember the Managed Objects product does not replace the CMDB engine; it sits on top of it and leverages the data sources already in place," he said.

Other Managed Objects functionality includes an Application Configuration Management Solution, which enables customers to map their IT infrastructure, as well as service level management functionality that allows organisations to measure and report on IT service level quality.

Illsley suggested that this acquisition and Novell's purchase of PlateSpin earlier this year show that the company is "getting its act together".

"I am surprised PlateSpin was not snapped up by a vendor such as Citrix, and I would have thought Managed Objects would have been grabbed by Microsoft, CA or HP," he said.

John Dragoon, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Novell, said in his blog: "This acquisition, like our acquisition of PlateSpin earlier this year, is yet another piece in our commitment to provide the best and most interoperable datacentre management solutions."

Dragoon listed three reasons why he believes Managed Objects to be a natural fit for Novell: the number of customers both firms have in common and their lack of product overlap; a common value proposition to help clients reduce cost, complexity and risk; and a shared commitment to interoperability.