OPSW Opsware (MM)

At its annual Analyst Day event today in New York City, Opsware Inc. (NASDAQ:OPSW), the leading provider of Data Center Automation software, announced a new version of its software suite designed to deliver the Zero Latency Data Center, Opsware�s vision for nimble enterprise IT operations accelerated to help businesses achieve their technology-powered objectives without delay. Latency is the gap in time between a task�s initiation and its completion. In IT, latency stems from a combination of the siloed management of different IT infrastructure elements (servers, networks, storage, processes); the extensive reliance on manual �hand-offs� between disparate IT groups; and the independent and loosely coordinated management of different geographies within a global IT organization. Until now, IT management tools, which should help get rid of latency, have themselves been just as disparate, unintegrated and incompatible as the hundreds, often thousands of different applications running in data centers that these tools are called upon to manage. Thus these management tools themselves can be significant sources of latency. In the Zero Latency Data Center, there are no manual, error-prone hand-offs between processes that should be integrated, no cracks between infrastructure groups because of their use of incompatible tools, no discrepancies in information caused by geographic distance, nor any of the wasteful and now unnecessary causes of delays and inefficiencies that have plagued data centers. The Opsware Automation System eradicates latency by attacking its root causes. It is the first unified automation suite for the whole data center. Unlike any other automation software available today, the Opsware suite integrates change management, compliance, and process automation all in one, working across servers, networks and, later this year, storage. This seamless combination will allow customers to achieve comprehensive, end-to-end automation to a degree that has been previously unattainable � enabling orders-of-magnitude labor and cost savings as well as greater predictability and accountability across IT operations. Most importantly, the Zero Latency Data Center makes it possible for businesses to use IT as a catalyst for achieving their most critical objectives faster than ever before. �The Zero Latency Data Center unlocks the power of technology for global businesses and represents a major turning point in enterprise IT,� said Ben Horowitz, president and CEO of Opsware Inc. �Now IT can assume the roles it was always meant to have: the engine of breakthrough business accomplishment, the agent of game-changing competitive advantage. Delays, outages and cost-overruns caused by IT latency have for too long stifled business progress. The Opsware Automation System makes the Zero Latency Data Center a reality. It enables frictionless IT operations, yielding orders-of-magnitude improvements in efficiency; in quality and consistency of service; and in compliance. Even better, it puts within reach the highest aspirations of business powered by technology.� Leading Companies Quash Latency with Opsware Opsware�s Data Center Automation software is eradicating latency for more than 350 companies globally. Many Opsware customers have achieved 90% or more time savings per task through implementing the Opsware Automation System. Among some of the impressive results: 95% Improvement in Time-to-Repair. A top�10 telecommunications company reduced the time to provision retail wireless access spots from 7 days to 6 hours and achieved a 95% improvement in time-to-repair. 217% Increase in Application Updates. The world's largest specialty retailer in its category more than tripled the number of application updates to hundreds of locations nationwide from 1,200 to 3,800 per week. Increased Compliance Rate from 4% to 100% for Thousands of Servers. A top�5 software company increased the compliance rate for their network infrastructure from 4% to 100%. Characteristics of the Zero Latency Data Center In order to achieve zero latency, a data center automation system must be global, seamless, and living. Global It must be global and all-inclusive in scope, encompassing not only the operations of all data center and remote locations spread around the world, but also all aspects of the physical and virtual IT infrastructure. This includes all silos, all vendors, all makes and models of devices, and all software applications and configurations. For example, it must be able to manage both physical and virtual servers side-by-side, as the full gamut of operational issues are every bit as relevant to virtual servers as they are to physical ones. Seamless A zero latency data center automation system must be seamlessly integrated. All barriers between tasks, infrastructure, geographies, competing best practices, and related external systems must be eliminated. Changes in one part of the data center must immediately be reflected everywhere. IT�s dependency on momentary, point-to-point integrations � a source of continual errors and significant latency � must be replaced by a single authoritative data model that gives everyone the same view of the entire global environment. It is not sufficient, for example, to automate server change and configuration unless network and storage are also taken into account. Today�s server, network and storage infrastructure is intricately intertwined, with the result that a change made to one part of the infrastructure almost always necessitates tuning and re-configuring of another part. Because today�s point tools only manage one part of the infrastructure � servers or networks or storage � changes are not synchronized across the entire application environment. This inevitably results in errors and frequent application downtime. Seamless management across the entire data center infrastructure removes the risk of downtime, the risk of security vulnerabilities, and the risk of mis-configurations. The end result is the elimination of latency across data center operations. Living Finally, to achieve zero latency an automation system must be living in terms of its ability to respond immediately to the changing needs of business. It must be continually and automatically refreshed with compliance policies, security fixes, software patches, and other vital software content. It must know how to respond appropriately to new information and dynamically update all related infrastructure and applications. The Opsware Automation System Makes Zero Latency a Reality The new version of the Opsware Automation System, available now, meets all the criteria for delivering zero latency. It is the first unified automation system designed to meet the needs of the whole data center. Integrating change management, compliance and process automation across all four data center elements � servers, networks, storage and all processes � it is the first automation system to satisfy the criteria of global, seamless and living. The Opsware suite is global in every sense. It scales easily to manage data centers connected across the world running thousands of servers. It manages both physical and virtual servers side-by-side, and supports virtually every major server operating system, network device and storage platform � thousands of different technologies and configurations in all. The Opsware Automation System is integrated seamlessly. It automates servers, networks, processes and, later this year, storage devices in concert with each other, eliminating the tremendous latency inherent in not integrating these tasks. Furthermore, by automating the data center across change management, compliance and process automation, the system makes it possible to automate the implementation of best practices such as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) specification being adopted by major IT organizations globally. Finally, the Opsware suite is a living system, capable of responding to new information and taking the appropriate action with it. The Opsware Network is the industry�s only subscription service for automating software and content delivery to servers and network devices. It automatically determines which security and compliance updates are relevant to a customer�s specific environment, and then applies those updates dynamically to the vulnerable infrastructure. The new version of the Opsware Automation System includes more than 2,000 additional compliance checks. �ONE system for the whole data center equals ZERO latency: this is the new math of information technology,� said Tim Howes, CTO at Opsware Inc. �By providing the industry�s only fully unified automation suite for the whole data center, Opsware is eradicating latency from enterprise IT. The race is on for IT organizations to streamline their operations to deliver business results. By implementing the Zero Latency Data Center, IT organizations can achieve unprecedented results and help their businesses achieve lasting competitive advantage.� About Opsware Inc. (NASDAQ:OPSW) Opsware, the world�s leading IT automation company, unlocks the promise of technology by accelerating IT to zero latency. The company�s software, the Opsware System, automates the entire data center, from provisioning to patching, configuration to compliance and discovery to deployment, turning data center operations into a competitive advantage for business. Opsware�s technology is used by hundreds of companies worldwide including banks, service providers, retailers, manufacturers and Internet companies with IT environments ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of servers, network devices, storage devices and IT processes. 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. This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the benefits and capabilities of our software products. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including the risk that the assumptions underlying our current business strategy may change, that our experience operating as a software company is limited, and that the products may not perform as described. More information about these and other factors that could affect our business are included in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 14, 2006 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. The determination of when the new automation capabilities described in this release will be made generally available, if ever, remains at the sole discretion of Opsware Inc.