HP has finalised its acquisition of software developer Mercury Interactive.

Mercury's network management and application optimisation software will be integrated into HP's OpenView management suite, and will be branded as HP Business Technology Optimization (BTO).

Tom Hogan, head of software at HP, said in an interview with vnunet.com that the ways in which Mercury's software complements HP OpenView made the acquisition appealing and could ease the transition process.

"When you compare software transitions there's almost always some sort of overlap, but that's not the case here," said Hogan. "We have a lot of common customers, so there's already tons of proof points in the marketplace."

Hogan said that the HP/Mercury BTO combination will be marketed as a way to simplify the management of IT.

"This new combination intends to be the trusted partner of the chief information officer, and we are going to take the BTO theme to the next level," said Hogan.

The acquisition, which had originally been targeted for completion in September, is HP's largest software purchase to date.

Mercury will continue to operate as a separate entity until the end of the year. HP expects to merge its software with Mercury's in early 2007.

IBM launched an aggressive campaign in October aimed at drawing customers away from Mercury to Big Blue's competing Rational and Tivoli suites. The campaign offered customers discounts of up to 25 per cent to switch.

Hogan slammed the IBM campaign, however, calling it "an insult" to customers that spend months comparing and analysing IT management products.

"It is naïve, it is insulting to the customer, and it is a validation of what HP is doing and why it matters," he said.