01 March 2004 – Dubai, UAE: Computer Associates Middle East (CA-ME) recently announced that Computer Associates has been ranked as a market leader in the META Group's recently released METAspectrumSM for IT Service Desk Tools. META Group (Nasdaq: METG) is a leading research and consulting firm that focuses on information technology and business transformation strategies.

The METAspectrum report assesses IT service desk management tools, including CA's Unicenter ServicePlus Service Desk, that provide functional incident, problem, service-level, asset, inventory and change management capabilities. Through 2006, META Group believes that users will continue to consolidate and standardize on an integrated suite to ensure configuration management integration across the infrastructure in order to attain business-relevant service-level management.
 
"Solution leaders gain prominence in the market by exhibiting both strong delivery of performance, based on a solid, evolving vision of the market, and technology innovation in the delivery of solutions," said Michele Hudnall, senior research analyst, META Group. "Given that the 'average' technology vendor analyzed meets the requirements for most IT organizations, leaders stand out by delivering consistent quality and technology that help drive operational efficiency and effectiveness for the business. Leaders also offer fully integrated solutions across the spectrum of a full-service service desk and managed network operations."
 
According to META Group, leadership in the $3 billion IT service desk tools market will be driven by solutions that aid an organization in proactively managing down service and support costs. To help manage bottom-line operational costs, service and support organizations must seek tightly integrated solutions that link those costs to the business of the enterprise.
 
"CA's Unicenter ServicePlus solutions enable customers to reduce labor and systems costs while increasing global service levels," said Mark Barrenechea, CA senior vice president for product development. "We are delighted that META Group has again recognized our leadership in this critical market - especially when it comes to the end-to-end integration of help desk functions with asset management, systems management, network management and other critical IT disciplines."
 
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About METAspectrum
METAspectrumSM evaluations from META Group (Nasdaq: METG) provide IT professionals with a view into critical market success factors and vendor positioning. METAspectrum delivers comprehensive evaluations of both technology markets and vendor product offerings. There are multiple market evaluations planned for release in 2004 and beyond. METAspectrum evaluations are updated quarterly, biannually, or annually, depending on the characteristics of individual markets. To view completed market evaluations, or learn more about the METAspectrum methodology, visit www.metagroup.com/metaspectrum
 
About Computer Associates
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE:CA), one of the world's largest software companies, delivers software and services that enable organizations to manage their IT environments. Focus areas include network and systems management, storage and security management, portal and business intelligence, and application life cycle management. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, NY, and operates in more than 100 countries. For more information on CA, please visit http://ca.com
 
Computer Associates Middle East (CA-ME), with headquarters in Riyadh, employs over 95 professionals and maintains offices in Al-Khobar and Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, as well as Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Being the regions leading IT management solution provider, CA-ME provides CA solutions that are used by many of the largest organizations in the banking, government, oil and gas, manufacturing and telecommunication sectors in the Middle East. For more information please visit us at: www.ca-me.com 
 
Issued on behalf of CA-ME by Matrix PR. for further information contact
Mohd Barghuthi or Jack Pearce on
Dubai 343 0888.

© Press Release 2004