On November 16, 2005, IBM announced it had acquired Collation, a privately held company based in Redwood City, Calif. Collation develops software that automatically captures information about IT resources, such as how servers and databases are configured, and also tracks inventory controls and other business services. This provides IT staffs with a better understanding of the impact of changes -- such as how a security patch can trigger a "domino effect" of unexpected problems that can bring down an online business -- and shrinks the time it takes to discover and correct a problem. The acquisition of Collation strengthens IBM's IT service management software portfolio and expands its capabilities for automating and simplifying the way companies manage their infrastructure. With IT service management, companies can manage IT processes the same way they manage business processes, improving efficiency, effectiveness, and agility. Collation technology simplifies the delivery of IT services and can be used as part of a configuration management solution to test for compliance against unauthorized changes to the environment.
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