Opsware Inc. Appoints Mark D. Cranney Head of Worldwide Sales; Software Industry Veteran Named Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Business Wire, May 6, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2004

Opsware Inc. (Nasdaq:OPSW), the leading provider of IT automation and utility computing software, today announced the appointment of Mark Cranney as the company's new Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Reporting to Opsware Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer Ben Horowitz, Cranney will have direct responsibility for worldwide sales effective immediately.

"Mark joins Opsware at an exciting time," said Horowitz. "Opsware has shown tremendous year over year success as the IT automation software category continues to grow. Mark's deep experience in large enterprise deals, and strong track record of helping grow multi-million dollar software businesses will be of tremendous benefit to Opsware."

Cranney has more than 15 years of experience in enterprise sales. Prior to joining Opsware, he led sales for all of the Americas at Parametric Technology Corp. (PTC) (Nasdaq:PMTC), responsible for $270 million in sales. Prior to joining PTC, Cranney held executive-level sales management positions with a number of established segment leaders, including DxU Corp., C.R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE:BCR) and Lanier (a Ricoh company).

"IT automation is becoming a necessity, and my experiences and market observations tell me Opsware has an exceptional opportunity," said Cranney. "I am thrilled to join the company at this exciting time, and I look forward to growing the customer base and furthering Opsware's lead in the IT automation market."

About Opsware Inc. (Nasdaq:OPSW)

Opsware Inc. is the world's leading IT automation and utility computing software company. The growth of the Internet is driving a shift from client/server computing to Web architecture. With this shift comes an overwhelming proliferation of servers and applications, creating massive complexity that makes an automated IT model a necessity. The Opsware System automates the complete IT lifecycle and delivers utility computing by enabling IT to automatically provision, patch, configure, secure, change, scale, audit, recover, consolidate, migrate, and reallocate servers and applications. Over 250 of the world's largest companies, outsourcers and government agencies use Opsware to deliver this new, automated model of IT. For more information on Opsware Inc., please visit our Web site at www.opsware.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the hiring of Mark Cranney as Opsware's Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and the associated impact on Opsware's business. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including the risk that our experience operating as a software company is limited, that there is unproven demand for our Opsware automation software, that we may not release our software products on time and that these products may not perform as described or as hoped, and that future revenue from sales of Opsware automation software is uncertain. More information about these and other factors that could affect our business and financial results is included in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 15, 2004 under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the Forms 10-Q and 8-K that we file during the fiscal year.

Opsware is a service mark and trademark of Opsware Inc. All other product names, service marks, and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.