Candle Corporation

Candle Corporation was an American enterprise-software company that operated from 1976 until IBM acquired it in 2004. The company originated in Toronto as Candle Services Corporation, founded by Aubrey G. Chernick after he identified an unmet need among IBM mainframe users for practical system-performance monitoring. Its first major product, OMEGAMON/MVS, was developed using a mainframe at Canada Life's Ontario operation and became the foundation of Candle's business. The product helped administrators observe and diagnose the performance of IBM mainframe environments, an increasingly important capability as large companies depended on centralized computing for transaction processing and business operations. Chernick moved the company to West Los Angeles in 1977 and shortened its name to Candle Corporation. During the late 1970s and 1980s, Candle built a substantial customer base among large organizations, including Southern California Edison, Northrop, Hughes Aircraft, TRW, and Warner Bros. Its product portfolio expanded beyond the original MVS monitor. OMEGAMON/CICS addressed transaction-processing environments used heavily by financial institutions, while later products supported system administration, databases, console automation, remote operations, and data-center management. The OMEGACENTER family and its Status Monitor interface represented an effort to integrate monitoring and automation into a more accessible graphical environment. Candle grew rapidly. It reported revenue of $4.5 million in 1980 and $10.4 million in 1981, and reached approximately $100 million in revenue in 1988 after acquiring Chicago-based Netserv. By the end of the 1980s, the company had roughly 700 employees and held a substantial position in the performance-measurement software market. Its OMEGAMON products were widely adopted by commercial enterprises, particularly organizations operating IBM mainframes and related database and transaction systems. During the 1990s, Candle broadened its ambitions. OMEGAMON II combined several existing functions, and the company introduced additional database, status-management, and systems-operations utilities. In 1995, Candle launched Candle Command Center, a systems- and network-management suite for a mix of mainframe, UNIX, and personal-computer environments. This marked a deliberate move away from an exclusive concentration on IBM mainframes. Candle announced a major research-and-development program to support the transition and began communicating its broader technology strategy to the software market. The company then moved further into middleware and distributed computing. In 1996 it acquired CleverSoft, AMSYS North America, PowerQ Software, and technology associated with Apertus Technologies' MQView product. These transactions strengthened Candle's capabilities around Lotus Notes administration and IBM MQSeries development, testing, and management. By that period, Candle products were used across thousands of mainframes and the company reported that a large majority of Fortune 500 companies were customers. Its workforce reached approximately 1,200 employees in 1996. In 1999, Candle moved its headquarters from Santa Monica to El Segundo and shifted its commercial emphasis toward electronic commerce. It launched eBA*ServiceMonitor for monitoring online businesses and ended the decade with approximately $382 million in revenue and 1,800 employees. In 2000, employment passed 2,000 and reported sales reached $400 million. Newer offerings, including OMEGAMON XE and DE, CandleNet eBusiness Platform, and the PathWAI product and services line, addressed e-business monitoring, service deployment, middleware development, and web-application back ends. By the early 2000s, the company was balancing its established mainframe business with newer distributed-systems and middleware activities. IBM acquired Candle in April 2004. The purchase price was not publicly disclosed by IBM in the cited material, although contemporary reports placed the value in a range of approximately $350 million to $600 million. Following the transaction, IBM incorporated Candle's assets and technology into its Tivoli Software division. Candle therefore ceased to operate as an independent company, but its monitoring and middleware capabilities became part of IBM's broader systems-management portfolio.

Candle Corporation began with Aubrey G. Chernick's experience supporting IBM mainframe environments. While participating in SHARE user-group meetings, Chernick heard repeated complaints that IBM operating systems did not provide enough practical assistance for monitoring system performance. In 1975, he obtained permission from Canada Life's Ontario branch to use its mainframes as a development platform. He created OMEGAMON/MVS in approximately five months and offered the finished software to other businesses. Chernick established Candle Services Corporation in Toronto in October 1976. The name Candle was intended to suggest illumination and warmth while avoiding the highly technical naming conventions common in the software industry. In 1977, the business moved to West Los Angeles and adopted the shorter name Candle Corporation. Early customers included Southern California Edison, Northrop, Hughes Aircraft, TRW, and Warner Bros. OMEGAMON became the company's central commercial product and gave Candle a strong position in software for IBM mainframe performance management. The company expanded its portfolio during the 1980s. OMEGAMON/CICS was introduced for transaction-processing systems, while other releases addressed system administration, database operations, console automation, remote management, and data-center performance. Candle acquired Netserv in 1987 and reached approximately $100 million in revenue in 1988. Its AF/OPERATOR and AF/REMOTE products extended the company into automation, and OMEGACENTER combined performance measurement and automation in an integrated package. The Status Monitor component gave the product a graphical interface at a time when much enterprise software remained command-oriented. In the early 1990s, Candle continued developing the OMEGAMON family and introduced products for DB2, systems status management, VMS, and SMS environments. The company moved its headquarters to a large facility in Santa Monica in 1992 and established its own data center in the Los Angeles area. It reported sales of $210 million in 1993 and $213 million in 1994. Candle's strategy changed materially in the mid-1990s. Candle Command Center, released in 1995, supported management of servers and workstations across a broader range of computing environments. The company paired the launch with a major research-and-development initiative intended to reduce its dependence on traditional mainframe software. In 1996, acquisitions involving CleverSoft, AMSYS North America, PowerQ Software, and Apertus Technologies' MQView strengthened its presence in Lotus Notes and MQSeries-related management and development. Candle's products were then used by thousands of mainframes, and the company counted many large Fortune 500 enterprises among its customers. The late 1990s brought another strategic emphasis: e-commerce and distributed middleware. Candle relocated to El Segundo in 1999 and launched eBA*ServiceMonitor for online businesses. Its revenue and workforce expanded through the turn of the millennium. New products included OMEGAMON XE and DE, CandleNet eBusiness Platform, and PathWAI, which combined software and consulting services for middleware and web-server back ends. Candle was thus attempting to connect its established monitoring expertise with the rapidly growing requirements of Internet-based business systems. IBM acquired Candle in April 2004. Although the transaction value was not disclosed in the cited reference, reported estimates placed it between $350 million and $600 million. IBM integrated Candle's assets into Tivoli Software, ending Candle's independent corporate history while preserving its technology within IBM's enterprise-management business.

• 2004

  IBM acquisition

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  IBM acquired Candle and incorporated its assets into Tivoli Software.

• 1999

  E-business strategy introduced

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Candle relocated to El Segundo and launched eBA*ServiceMonitor for online businesses.

• 1996

  Middleware acquisitions

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Candle acquired companies and products associated with Lotus Notes and MQSeries environments.

• 1995

  Candle Command Center launched

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The product expanded Candle's systems-management activities beyond its traditional mainframe focus.

• 1989

  OMEGACENTER announced

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The company announced an integrated performance-management and automation package for IBM-mainframe data centers.

• 1987

  Netserv acquired

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Candle acquired Chicago-based Netserv, supporting its expansion before reaching approximately $100 million in revenue in 1988.

• 1981

  OMEGAMON/CICS released

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Candle released a monitoring product for CICS transaction-processing environments.

• 1977

  Company moves to California

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The company moved to West Los Angeles and adopted the Candle Corporation name.

• 1976

  Candle Services Corporation founded

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Chernick established Candle Services Corporation in Toronto and began commercializing OMEGAMON/MVS.

• 1975

  OMEGAMON/MVS development begins

  [1]Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Aubrey G. Chernick developed the first OMEGAMON product on Canada Life's IBM mainframes in Ontario.

Enterprise infrastructure software focused on monitoring, managing, automating, and integrating large-scale mainframe, distributed-computing, middleware, and e-business environments.

• Mainframe performance monitoring · 1976

  OMEGAMON

  Candle's flagship product family monitored the performance and operation of IBM mainframe systems. It began with OMEGAMON/MVS and later expanded to environments including CICS, DB2, VMS, SMS, and e-business configurations. Its widespread adoption among commercial enterprises made it the foundation of Candle's reputation and revenue.

• Data-center performance management · 1989

  OMEGACENTER

  OMEGACENTER combined performance measurement and automation functions for data centers and large enterprises operating IBM mainframes. Its Status Monitor component provided a graphical interface for viewing and managing integrated operational information.

• Systems and network management · 1995

  Candle Command Center

  Candle Command Center was a systems- and network-management suite supporting servers running AIX and MVS as well as PC-compatible workstations running OS/2. Its release represented Candle's strategic effort to broaden beyond traditional mainframe monitoring.

• E-business platform · 2001

  CandleNet eBusiness Platform

  CandleNet eBusiness Platform was positioned as a software-as-a-service platform for deploying e-commerce services. It formed part of Candle's attempt to apply its monitoring and infrastructure expertise to Internet-based business operations.

• Middleware development and services · 2002

  PathWAI

  PathWAI was a line of software packages and consulting services intended to streamline the design and development of middleware and web-server back ends. It reflected Candle's later emphasis on distributed computing and enterprise application integration.

• 2004

  Sale to IBMM&A

  Background

  Candle had developed a broad portfolio spanning mainframe monitoring, systems management, middleware, and e-business software.

  Action taken

  IBM acquired Candle Corporation in April 2004.

  Aftermath

  Candle's assets were absorbed into IBM's Tivoli Software division, ending the company's independent operation.

  Reported acquisition value. (2004)

  Source

• 1999

  Expansion into e-business monitoringStrategy

  Background

  The growth of online commerce created demand for monitoring the availability and performance of web-based services.

  Action taken

  Candle shifted focus toward e-commerce and launched eBA*ServiceMonitor for online businesses.

  Aftermath

  The company continued developing e-business products, including OMEGAMON XE and DE and CandleNet eBusiness Platform.

  Source

• 1996

  Acquisitions to build middleware capabilitiesM&A

  Background

  Candle sought technology and expertise for managing distributed applications and IBM MQSeries environments.

  Action taken

  Candle acquired CleverSoft, AMSYS North America, PowerQ Software, and technology associated with Apertus Technologies' MQView.

  Aftermath

  The acquisitions expanded Candle's middleware portfolio and supported its move beyond mainframe-only software.

  Source

• 1995

  Shift toward distributed systems managementStrategy

  Background

  Candle's historical strength was monitoring IBM mainframes, but enterprise computing was becoming more heterogeneous and networked.

  Action taken

  The company launched Candle Command Center for multiple operating environments and initiated a major research-and-development program to support a broader systems-management strategy.

  Aftermath

  The move preceded Candle's further expansion into middleware, distributed computing, and e-business monitoring.

  Source

1. 1Candle Corporationen.wikipedia.org