Novell acquires firm to build up ZenWorks

Novell said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire privately held Tally Systems and combine that company's administration tools with Novell's ZenWorks systems management suite. Financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the middle of April, were not disclosed.

Tally Systems, based in Lebanon, N.H., sells a set of so-called asset management tools for tracking computing resources, such as equipment and software licenses. It also has programs for analyzing software usage and inventory. Novell, a Linux and server software seller, said it intends to use Tally Systems products to meet customers' need for compliance and auditing software. "Bringing together Tally Systems' asset management with Novell's change and configuration management gives companies a powerful method of ensuring compliance, reducing software costs and preparing for software audits," Novell CEO Jack Messman said in a statement.