Filed by Computer Associates International, Inc.
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
Subject Company: Sterling Software, Inc.
Commission File No. 333-30842

Contacts:  Bob Gordon, public relations        Doug Robinson, investor relations
           (631) 342-2391                      (631) 342-2745
           bobg@ca.com                         dougr@ca.com

                JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REQUESTS FURTHER INFORMATION
              CONCERNING ACQUISITION OF STERLING SOFTWARE, INC. BY
                    COMPUTER ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL, INC.

ISLANDIA,   N.Y.,  AND  DALLAS,  TX,  March  15,  2000  --  Computer  Associates
International,  Inc. (NYSE: CA) and Sterling Software, Inc.(NYSE: SSW) announced
today that the  Antitrust  Division of the United  States  Department of Justice
(DOJ) has requested additional  information and documents in connection with the
DOJ's review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino  Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as
amended, of the tender offer by Silversmith  Acquisition Corp., a wholly - owned
subsidiary  of Computer  Associates  International,  Inc.,  for all  outstanding
shares of common stock of Sterling Software, Inc. ("Sterling").

The tender  offer is scheduled  to expire at  midnight,  New York City time,  on
Monday, March 20, 2000, unless extended. Computer Associates and Sterling intend
to respond to the request as promptly as possible.

Sterling  Software is one of the world's leading software  companies,  providing
software and services for the application  development,  business  intelligence,
information management,  storage management, network management, Web management,
VM systems  management,  and federal systems  markets.  Headquartered in Dallas,
Sterling  Software has a worldwide  installed base of more than 20,000  customer
sites and 3,800  employees  in 90 offices  worldwide.  For more  information  on
Sterling Software, visit the company's Web site at www.sterling.com.

Computer Associates  International,  Inc., the world's leading business software
company,  delivers the end-to-end  infrastructure  to enable  eBusiness  through
innovative technology, services and education. CA has 18,000 employees worldwide
and had revenue of $6.3 billion for the year ended  December 31, 1999.  For more
information, visit www.ca.com.

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All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to
their respective companies.

                                      ----

We urge  investors  and security  holders to read the  following  regarding  the
tender  offer,  including  amendments  that  may be made to them,  because  they
contain important information:

- - Computer Associates'  preliminary prospectus,  prospectus  supplements,  final
prospectus and tender offer material.

- -  Computer  Associates'  Registration  Statement  on Form S-4 and  Schedule  TO
containing or incorporating by reference such documents and other information.

- - Sterling Software's Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9.

These documents and amendments to these documents have or will be filed with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

When these and other documents are filed with the SEC, they may be obtained free
at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. You may also obtain for free each of these
documents (when available) from Computer Associates by directing your request to
Investor Relations at  www.ca.com/invest/questions or by fax at 631-342-6864, or
from Sterling Software by directing your request to  investor@sterling.com or by
fax at (214) 981-1215.