Gersch added that he thinks Mercury's tools are, in general, "a pretty strong complement, with just a little bit of overlap" with OpenView.

Mike Aubert, co-leader of OVFI's Colorado chapter, said HP already has some application and performance management tools that provide the same kind of functionality offered by Mercury. "But I'm sure HP can incorporate the [new] tools," added Aubert, who declined to identify the company he works for.

HP CEO Mark Hurd said during a teleconference that the purchase of Mountain View, Calif.-based Mercury will double his company's software revenue to more than $2 billion annually and is designed to make HP "an end-to-end leader in IT management."

Rick Langsford, an OVFI member and former leader of its San Francisco Bay area chapter, said that after Hurd took over at HP last year, some users were worried that he would de-emphasize the OpenView business.

"But it turns out that there's been a software emphasis, and in fact, they are being very aggressive" with acquisitions, said Langsford. He is director of research and development at Pepperweed Consulting LLC, an Indianapolis-based company that does OpenView systems integration work.