New Breed, Inc. Selects Opsware Inc.'s Data Center Automation Software; Automation of Server and Application Provisioning To Ease Deployments and Lower IT Operational Costs

Business Wire, April 2, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 2003

Opsware Inc., (Nasdaq:OPSW), the leading provider of Data Center Automation (DCA) software, today announced that New Breed, Inc. has selected the Opsware System 3.6 software to automate the provisioning and operations of its mission critical servers and applications. New Breed provides distribution services, critical logistics and supply-chain consulting services for large companies including Siemens Medical Solutions, the US Postal Service, and Verizon Wireless.

The management of a data center today is highly manual, time-consuming and costly. It is estimated that approximately 70% of IT budgets are spent on managing the data center. The high costs of operating a data center can be attributed to the large numbers of IT staff needed to operate the environment and the manual nature of executing operations across servers and applications. For instance, the manual process of installing and configuring a particular operating system over a large number of servers or the provisioning new applications across dozens of servers can take weeks to months. By automating key operations using the Opsware System, the time to deploy application infrastructure across large heterogeneous server environments can be reduced by up to 90%. Not only does automation speed deployment times, Forrester Research found that the use of automated server and application provisioning can reduce a company's overall deployment costs by as much as 80%.

New Breed will utilize Opsware to automate day-to-day operational tasks across its data centers. New Breed selected the Opsware System for its advanced automation capabilities in the area of server and application operations. New Breed's use of Opsware will allow them to be more responsive to client needs and will reduce costs in the data center. Opsware automation will enhance New Breed's ability to deploy change and operate, operating systems, commercial software, and proprietary applications across all its' data centers. Additionally, Opsware is an integral part of New Breed's business continuity program; Opsware will allow New Breed to quickly rearrange data center environments in the event of a major disaster by automating the process of rebuilding the server and application infrastructure.

"New Breed's competitive advantage is the use of technology to streamline our logistics operations -- enabling us to deliver superior services to our clients," said Ashfaque Chowdhury, New Breed's CIO. "We selected Opsware because the technology enables our IT organization to more reliably respond to the needs of our clients while saving us significant IT costs."

"We are excited that New Breed has selected Opsware to automate the operations of their cutting edge IT systems and enable them to more rapidly roll out new features and functionality to their customers," said Ben Horowitz, CEO and president of Opsware Inc. "Today there is a clear need for IT organizations to automate their internal operations in order to reduce cost and improve quality. Opsware is a proven technology that solves the most costly and time-consuming aspects of operating data centers."

The Opsware System automates lifecycle management of business applications and servers within a data center and across a distributed, multi-data center environment. Opsware software encapsulates operational best practices and software operations knowledge for servers and applications to simplify and reduce costs associated with operating complex data center environments. The Opsware System enables IT organizations to provision, deploy, change and operate their complex server environments and applications in a standardized, best-practice manner. Customers can use Opsware software to achieve consistency and accuracy of operations across large-scale systems. Opsware software supports Windows, Linux, and various UNIX platforms. Customers include enterprises, government agencies and service providers who utilize Opsware software automation to improve operations quality and reduce operations costs.

About Opsware Inc.

Opsware Inc., formerly Loudcloud, is the leading provider of data center automation (DCA) software, offering a complete solution for enterprises, government agencies and service providers looking to reduce costs and increase IT efficiencies. The Opsware System automates the complete IT lifecycle including provisioning, deploying, changing, scaling, securing, recovering, consolidating, auditing and reallocating servers and business applications. The Opsware System uniquely combines process automation with built in operations knowledge on numerous technologies. Opsware was the foundation of Loudcloud's software-powered managed services business and has been proven to lower costs, accelerate change and increase service quality. For more information on Opsware Inc., please visit our Web site at www.opsware.com.

About New Breed, Inc.

New Breed features world-class capabilities in distribution services, critical logistics, and supply chain consulting. Nationally recognized for its superior services, New Breed was named one of the industry's "Innovators -- 25 Companies to Watch" by Cahners OEM Supply Chain Group and one of the "North Carolina Top 100" privately-held companies by Grant Thornton, ranking number 42. More information is available at www.newbreed.com.