Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2011
Segment Information [Abstract]
Number of reportable business segments	6		4
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	$ 34,126	$ 33,330
Maintenance and subsciption fees	126,109	116,759
Professional services fees	69,739	56,396
Total revenues	229,974	206,485
Operating expense	210,357	184,098
Income (loss) from operations	19,617	22,387
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues	229,974	206,485
Number of reportable business segments into which the former products segment was split	4
Application Performance Management [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	11,453	14,232
Maintenance and subsciption fees	37,094	28,445
Professional services fees	6,966	4,158
Total revenues	55,513	46,835
Operating expense	69,439	56,795
Income (loss) from operations	(13,926)	(9,960)
Changepoint [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	1,994	2,352
Maintenance and subsciption fees	4,302	3,551
Professional services fees	3,670	3,519
Total revenues	9,966	9,422
Operating expense	11,362	11,288
Income (loss) from operations	(1,396)	(1,866)
Mainframe [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	18,698	14,708
Maintenance and subsciption fees	76,975	77,741
Professional services fees	1,833	1,646
Total revenues	97,506	94,095
Operating expense	24,076	23,752
Income (loss) from operations	73,430	70,343
Uniface [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	1,981	2,038
Maintenance and subsciption fees	7,738	7,022
Professional services fees	1,206	980
Total revenues	10,925	10,040
Operating expense	5,400	4,687
Income (loss) from operations	5,525	5,353
Professional Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	0	0
Maintenance and subsciption fees	0	0
Professional services fees	39,897	34,854
Total revenues	39,897	34,854
Operating expense	31,589	29,804
Income (loss) from operations	8,308	5,050
Application Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	0	0
Maintenance and subsciption fees	0	0
Professional services fees	16,167	11,239
Total revenues	16,167	11,239
Operating expense	16,834	10,477
Income (loss) from operations	(667)	762
Unallocated Expense [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software License fees	0	0
Maintenance and subsciption fees	0	0
Professional services fees	0	0
Total revenues	0	0
Operating expense	51,657	47,295
Income (loss) from operations	(51,657)	(47,295)
United States [Member]
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues	149,239	132,156
Europe and Africa [Member]
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues	54,604	48,338
Other interenational operations [Member]
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 26,131	$ 25,991