The field of systems management has long been dominated by the ‘big four' – Computer Associates, IBM Tivoli, BMC and Hewlett-Packard. Yet the evolution of their sprawling product lines has left some openings for more nimble, innovative companies – especially in applications management. Covasoft thinks it fits that bill.

The company's CovaOne product focuses on the task of ensuring the efficient running of ecommerce applications. It monitors key aspects of applications performance, managing how they interact with underlying software such as databases, application servers and operating systems, and automatically resolving problems before they start to impact the organisation.

On the surface, that is not a particularly unique message. But the company, whose founders emerged from the applications management R&D labs of BMC Software, differentiates itself by taking a more centralised approach to application management and problem diagnosis. While many rival products monitor the performance of applications in isolation, CovaOne's correlation engine takes in feeds from the complete application environment, using artificial intelligence to diagnose problems and recommend action.

CovaOne is able to focus on the relationship between applications because its ‘collectors' monitor applications and send all the information back to the CovaOne server for central processing. More traditional agents collect and process information on individual boxes, making it more difficult to find patterns or relationships between applications.

To date, the company's target has been ecommerce applications. CovaOne offers out-of-the-box ‘knowledge packs' to manage applications from BroadVision and Vignette. It has also launched management software for applications running on BEA's WebLogic application server.

With its strong technology, $19 million in funding, and experienced management team, Covasoft is set to grab the spotlight in applications management.