OC Systems Announces Universal Agent with Patented Aprobe Technology; Seamlessly Integrates Custom and Packaged Software Applications with Unicenter NSM

Fairfax, VA (January 14, 2004)—OC Systems, Inc. today announced the release of the Universal Agent, a software framework for generating application agents for Unicenter NSM. Application agents obtain detailed, real-time information about the internal functioning of an application and bring that data into Unicenter NSM, thus increasing speed to resolution and maximizing availability.

The Universal Agent can be used to integrate any packaged or custom application with Unicenter NSM in about a week, significantly speeding and simplifying the process of creating application agents. OC Systems' Universal Agent requires no specialized programming knowledge and does not require access to source code. Patented Aprobe technology instruments the application at runtime while it is in memory, without changing any application files, thereby eliminating the need for recompilation. The Universal Agent’s process can also perform instrumentation on the fly for temporary monitoring of application-or system-specific items.

With the Universal Agent, the user determines what kind of information is to be collected from the application being monitored. IT departments can tailor the monitoring and data collection to the unique needs of their organization. Any type of information about the internal or external functioning of an application can be selected, including:

• Data related to method or function entry or exit

• Parameters, values, variables, queues or other program objects

• Timing of selected functions, methods or transactions

• Runtime API invocations and their parameters and return values

Once the collection and reporting data are defined, a prototype of the agent can be developed in as little as one hour. Full system integration can be accomplished in about a week.

"Computer Associates already offers packaged application agents for SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Microsoft Exchange, and a few other tier-one applications," said Oliver Cole, president of OC Systems. "However, there are thousands of other software packages for which no agents exist. With the Universal Agent, organizations can bring every critical application into the Unicenter domain quickly and easily. Eliminating rogue applications gives IT greater control, and enhances its ability to improve availability and performance across the board, even in the most complex IT environments."

The Universal Agent is shipping now for Windows and Solaris; AIX and Red Hat Linux will be available later in the first quarter. Pricing follows Computer Associates' tiered model with the largest Windows/smallest Unix server priced at $16,000. This allows instrumentation of an unlimited number of applications on that server. For organizations that want assistance in developing Unicenter NSM application agents, OC Systems’ consultants can provide the required level of support or perform the entire integration.

About OC Systems
OC Systems, Inc. provides state-of-the-art software tools, development environments, and services that maximize software quality and application availability to companies that are developing and maintaining critical systems. Customers include Lockheed Martin, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Unisys, Sandia National Laboratories, TRW, UUNET, Cognos, Intel, SAIC, Veridian Engineering and the U.S. Army. Founded in 1983, the employee-owned company is based in Fairfax, Virginia. More information may be obtained at http://www.ocsystems.com.

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Universal Agent is a trademark of OC Systems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.