Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011
Segment Information [Abstract]
Number of reportable business segments					6	4
Number of reportable business segments into which the former products segment was split					4
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	$ 57,121	$ 60,152	$ 152,958	$ 139,095
Maintenance fees	106,843	106,321	322,908	314,159
Subscription fees	19,931	17,841	58,156	48,769
Professional services fees	50,575	48,332	157,403	139,576
Application services fees	18,587	14,379	52,302	37,780
Total revenues	253,057	247,025	743,727	679,379
Operating expenses	220,464	197,544	653,357	566,650
Income (loss) from operations	32,593	49,481	90,370	112,729
Application Performance Management [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	24,360	21,059	54,142	53,520
Maintenance fees	19,441	17,194	57,003	47,912
Subscription fees	19,379	17,841	56,639	48,769
Professional services fees	8,893	5,937	22,646	15,404
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	72,073	62,031	190,430	165,605
Operating expenses	82,118	63,450	231,489	177,527
Income (loss) from operations	(10,045)	(1,419)	(41,059)	(11,922)
Mainframe [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	26,720	34,877	83,874	72,346
Maintenance fees	75,782	77,838	230,776	233,465
Subscription fees	0	0	0	0
Professional services fees	558	1,784	3,960	4,918
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	103,060	114,499	318,610	310,729
Operating expenses	24,721	26,419	72,926	73,591
Income (loss) from operations	78,339	88,080	245,684	237,138
Changepoint [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	3,513	1,545	7,643	6,145
Maintenance fees	3,895	3,742	11,647	10,904
Subscription fees	552	0	1,517	0
Professional services fees	4,517	4,141	12,487	11,489
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	12,477	9,428	33,294	28,538
Operating expenses	11,683	11,680	33,989	34,370
Income (loss) from operations	794	(2,252)	(695)	(5,832)
Uniface [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	2,528	2,671	7,299	7,084
Maintenance fees	7,725	7,547	23,482	21,878
Subscription fees	0	0	0	0
Professional services fees	981	1,354	3,259	3,390
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	11,234	11,572	34,040	32,352
Operating expenses	5,044	4,932	15,595	14,231
Income (loss) from operations	6,190	6,640	18,445	18,121
Professional Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	0	0	0	0
Maintenance fees	0	0	0	0
Subscription fees	0	0	0	0
Professional services fees	35,626	35,116	115,051	104,375
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	35,626	35,116	115,051	104,375
Operating expenses	31,794	29,108	95,045	87,748
Income (loss) from operations	3,832	6,008	20,006	16,627
Application Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	0	0	0	0
Maintenance fees	0	0	0	0
Subscription fees	0	0	0	0
Professional services fees	0	0	0	0
Application services fees	18,587	14,379	52,302	37,780
Total revenues	18,587	14,379	52,302	37,780
Operating expenses	17,265	12,719	53,934	34,159
Income (loss) from operations	1,322	1,660	(1,632)	3,621
Unallocated Expense [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Software license fees	0	0	0	0
Maintenance fees	0	0	0	0
Subscription fees	0	0	0	0
Professional services fees	0	0	0	0
Application services fees	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	0	0	0	0
Operating expenses	47,839	49,236	150,379	145,024
Income (loss) from operations	$ (47,839)	$ (49,236)	$ (150,379)	$ (145,024)