I.B.M. announced on 21 st December 2005 that it would pay $865 million for Micromuse Inc., whose software is used to manage Internet-based computing networks that handle voice, video and data.

The acquisition is the latest indication that the many software markets continue to consolidate, including the data center management market, where Micromuse occupies a niche. Earlier this year, for example, Computer Associates bought Concord Communications for $350 million, and EMC completed its $260 million purchase of Smarts.

Micromuse, based in San Francisco, will become part of I.B.M.'s Tivoli unit, a big supplier of data center software. That market is growing faster than the software business as a whole - Tivoli's revenue has increased more than 10 percent this year - as companies seek to cut costs by using software to automate the maintenance of corporate data centers. Tivoli's rivals range from Hewlett-Packard, with its Open View software, to young, specialist companies like Opsware.

Micromuse, analysts say, has impressive technology for handling the new forms of computer communications, beyond traditional business and financial information stored in databases. These new digital communications include the use of the Internet for voice calls as a low-cost alternative to conventional telephone service, and streaming video and audio for use in corporate training and education. And instant messages, once mainly for teenagers, have also become a popular communications tool in corporations.

The Micromuse customer roster is filled with Internet service providers and telecommunications companies that are building networks for voice, video and data. Its customers include AOL, E*Trade, Orbitz, Verizon, NTT, British Telecom, Cox Communications, Deutsche Telekom, Shanghai Telecom and Telecom Italia.

The chief executive of Micromuse, Lloyd A. Carney, pointed to the consolidation of the industry and the opportunities in the network management software market as the reasons for joining I.B.M. Big Internet service and telecommunications customers, he said, increasingly want to buy packages of software, and preferably from one supplier.

(www.nytimes.com)