(BMC Software, Inc., Houston, TX, www.bmc.com) A leading supplier of software that supports and improves the availability, performance, and recovery of applications in complex computing environments. BMC's focus on aligning and managing technology from a business perspective has been branded as Business Service Management.

Founded in 1980, BMC's core business initially focused on databases for IBM mainframes. It later added products for open systems and client/server. In late 1998, the company merged with Boole & Babbage, itself a leader in availability and service level management for distributed systems. BMC Software is one of the world's largest independent software vendors with offices worldwide. See Boole & Babbage.