Computer Associates 2005 Annual Report Download - page 9

companies efficiently we must create a strong partner channel. Increasingly, even our larger
enterprise customers are looking to Systems Integrators (SIs) to transform their business processes
and are relying upon SI s to make the choice of the underlying software in their solutions. We are
actively building our relationships with both communities.
 Strengthen our internal controls and reporting systems. Among the things that surprised
me when I arrived at CA were the weakness and lack of integration of our IT systems. I believe
that deficiencies in these systems contributed to some of our customers’ dissatisfaction in dealing with
us. To comply with both the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and our own agreement with the
U.S. government,
we have substantially improved our internal processes and controls. But the real solution is to replace
the hodgepodge of old homegrown systems with a modern
ERP infrastructure. Accordingly,
we are now in the process of implementing a new full SAP system for financials, HR , CRM and
Service Management.
 Restore the confidence of CA employees and rebuild the culture of the organization.
The employees of CA have proven to be a tough, resilient team. Despite the management
turmoil of the last few years, they stayed focused on their jobs and their customers and deserve
an enormous amount of credit for the company’s survival. We now are building a new
CA
culture more aligned with the company’s goals going forward.
Building that corporate culture is a long process, starting with a leadership team that communicates
with great clarity and frequency to the organization and that is reinforced by everything the company
does and says. We need to be very visible about celebrating success, as well as uncompromising
about our performance standards and business ethics.
CONCLUSION
CA has a unique opportunity to become the trusted partner for large and medium enterprises to help
them securely manage their IT infrastructure. The market for enterprise security and systems
management is growing faster than the software industry overall, and we are well positioned to be
the leader. Our products are good and getting better. We have good people, and our customers
believe they need CA as a partner in this space.
However, good prospects are no guarantee of success; we have to prove to our customers that
we can truly be their partner and deliver solutions that help them reduce their costs and drive
revenue. We need to make sure we do a few things really well and leverage that leadership to expand
into adjacent opportunities. We need to align our whole company behind the strategy and continue
to build our relationships with partners to help us expand our market reach. We need to rebuild
the infrastructure of our business and create a new culture for our company.
Let me close with a note of personal thanks to Ken Cron. Last April, Ken was asked by the Board
of Directors to put his personal plans on hold to step in as interim
CEO . It was a very difficult time
for the company. Ken, together with Jeff Clarke, who only a month before joined
CA as CFO and was
awarded a “battlefield promotion” to
COO , took charge of the company and moved it forward,
as Chairman Lewis Ranieri successfully negotiated a settlement with the government. Ken in particular
was the visible face of the company to its employees and customers, and his integrity and
calmness were instrumental in restoring confidence among those constituencies. In addition, he was
a wonderful teacher and great coach, and he helped me quickly understand what I needed to
know to be successful as the company’s new
CEO .
We all owe him a great vote of thanks.
Regards,
John A. Swainson
President and CEO
CA 2005 PAGE 07