The deal will provide software licence management tools for Microsoft’s forthcoming System Center Configuration Manager

Microsoft plans to push further into IT management by acquiring Canada-based IT asset tracking software specialist AssetMetrix.

Announced at Microsoft's Management Summit in San Diego this week, the deal is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to fit into Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initative and will provide a considerable boost to its ability to manage non-Microsoft applications.

AssetMetrix claims to have software that can identify over 300,000 applications and provide IT managers with information about how many copies are being used across the enterprise and on which servers. Microsoft has already confirmed it plans to integrate some of this functionality, including AssetMetrix's software licence management capabilities, into its imminent System Center Configuration Manager product.

Bola Rotibi of analyst Ovum said the deal plugged an important gap in Microsoft's system management portfolio and will enhance its credibility when competing with more established IT management vendors such as IBM, BMC, CA and Mercury.

Rotibi added that the acquisition also underlined the growing importance of asset tracking technology. "This is the latest in a line of developments that prove infrastructure vendors have realised that if firms are to make use application lifecycle management tools to manage relationships between their applications they need to know what apps they have in the first place," she said.

In separate news this week, Microsoft bolstered its credentials in the business intelligence (BI) market by inking a technology partnership with BI specialist Hyperion. Under the agreement, Microsoft will integrate reporting capabilities included in its SQL server with Hyperion's System 9 BI+ business performance management (BPM) suite.