Adrian Conway, a member of the CA Unicenter User Association, said he hadn't heard of the departures. "[I] don't really consider this to be a user group issue."

Rich Ptak, an analyst at Ptak, Noel & Associates, said the executive departures are "probably not a bad thing for CA" as CEO John Swainson continues to transform the company. "It sounds to me like these guys got restless and moved on. I'd say there's nothing really wrong with what Swainson has done with personnel, and he's done pretty good stuff so far."

The outsourcing of HR is also not a problem, Ptak said, since HR is not CA's core capability. "I've not heard anything that suggests CA is not going to be able to provide products and services to clients, and I think they'll continue to do so. As they slim down, maybe they are preparing for a major investment affecting services and support to customers. They do feel pressure to cut costs and refocus, since the stock has languished lately."