Computer Associates 2008 Annual Report Download - page 16

to maintain our customer base while allowing us the opportunity to cross-sell new software products and services to
them.
No individual customer accounted for a material portion of our revenue during any of the past three fiscal years, or a
material portion of the license contract value that has not yet been earned (deferred subscription value) reported at the
end of any period in the past three fiscal years. As of March 31, 2008, four customers accounted for substantially all of
our outstanding prior business model net receivables, which amounted to approximately $342 million, including one
large IT outsourcing customer with a license arrangement that extends through fiscal 2012 with a net unbilled receivable
balance of approximately $324 million. Refer to “Business Model” in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” for further information.
Competition
The markets in which we compete are marked by rapid technological change, the steady emergence of new companies
and products, evolving industry standards, and changing customer needs. Competitive differentiators include, but are not
limited to: industry vision, performance, quality, breadth of product group, expertise, integration of products, brand name
recognition, price, functionality, customer support, frequency of upgrades and updates, manageability of products and
reputation.
We compete with many established companies in the markets we serve. Some of these companies have substantially
greater financial, marketing, and technological resources, larger distribution capabilities, earlier access to customers, and
greater opportunity to address customers’ various information technology requirements than we do. These factors may
provide our competitors with an advantage in penetrating markets with their products. We also compete with many
smaller, less established companies that may be able to focus more effectively on specific product areas or markets.
Because of the breadth of our product offerings, we compete with companies in specific product areas and in one
instance, across all of our product areas. Some of our key competitors are IBM, BMC, HP, Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, Oracle
and Symantec.
We believe that we are well positioned and have a competitive advantage in the marketplace with our EITM vision, the
breadth and quality of our product offerings, our hardware and operating system independence, and the ability to offer
our solutions as product modules or as integrated suites, so that customers can use them at their own pace. We
continue our efforts to evolve the CA brand to consistently help the market understand the value we can deliver.
CA Services, Education and Technical Support
We support our software with implementation services, education and technical support to help customers gain the
most from their CA technology investments.
•CA Services — Our CA Services team and global systems integration partners strive to help our customers shorten
the time to achieve measurable business results through fast, efficient implementation of our solutions. Our proven,
repeatable and phased approach draws on the expertise and best practice knowledge developed during thousands of
successful projects completed annually in large and diverse organizations.
•CA Education — We offer a comprehensive portfolio of basic to advanced level training to address the range of
customer needs, all with the goal of helping customers get the most out of their technology investments. Our
blended learning solutions range from classroom-based training in our Global Learning Centers to self-paced and on-
line training offerings.
•CA Technical Support — As part of our commitment to customer satisfaction, we strive to provide our customers
with industry-leading support through our dedicated technical support staff, online services, custom offerings, and
partner support programs. Our Technical Support team is highly skilled and customer focused, delivering 24 x 7
business-critical assistance to locations around the world. CA’s Technical Support team helps customers get the most
from their software purchases by resolving issues and answering product questions quickly to keep their systems
running.
Office of the CTO
The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) drives our technology strategy; manages our intellectual property and
patent portfolio; governs our participation in standards organizations; and leads research and development for emerging
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