WSA, Washington's Premier Technology Trade Association, Names Opsware

WSA, Washington's Premier Technology Trade Association, Names Opsware Network Automation System Most Promising New Technology

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors
    10th Annual WSA Industry Achievement Awards

    SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 2005--

Prestigious Award Honors Technical Merit of Industry's First Network Automation System
    Opsware Inc. (Nasdaq:OPSW), the leading provider of IT automation and utility computing software, today announced the Opsware Network Automation System was named "Most Promising New Technology" at the 10th Annual WSA Industry Achievement Awards held last night at The Westin in Seattle, WA. Opsware Network Automation System is the next-generation version of Rendition Networks' award winning TrueControl product, which Opsware acquired in February 2005.
    The WSA Industry Achievement Awards celebrate companies and government entities that best demonstrate excellence in technology. Opsware Network Automation was recognized as Most Promising New Technology due to the product's high technical merit and a compelling potential for sustained viability in a sizeable market. A panel of venture capitalists, technology executives, and academic and government technology experts selected Opsware Network Automation as the Most Promising New Technology from an extensive field of award applicants.
    "Opsware was a winner in two categories this year -- Most Promising New Technology and Most Promising New Company -- which clearly shows their potential in the marketplace," said Kathy Wilcox, president and CEO of the WSA. "Based on their performance at the Industry Achievement Awards, we believe Opsware will continue to contribute to Washington's State's leadership in technology innovation."
    Opsware Network Automation System tracks and regulates changes in real-time across routers, switches, firewalls and load balancers, allowing organizations to improve network availability, increase security and ensure compliance with corporate and industry regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA. When integrated with Opsware's server automation software, enterprises are provided with a unified view of their applications, including the underlying servers, software and network devices.
    "Having Opsware Network Automation System honored as the Most Promising New Technology validates the technical superiority of our solution and the growing demand for advanced network automation capabilities," said Eric Johnson, vice president of development at Opsware. "Opsware Network Automation plays a critical role in helping enterprises comply with mounting regulatory and corporate policies, and we will continue to deliver technology that provides enterprises with a comprehensive, real-time view into their IT operations."

    About the WSA

    Founded in 1984, with over 1,100 members representing a range of software, Internet and technology companies, the WSA (formerly the Washington Software Alliance) is a statewide trade association focused on helping Washington state technology companies succeed. The WSA is a catalyst for setting new industry directions, sharing expertise, delivering key business services, and leading the advocacy of issues necessary to keep Washington a leader in the digital economy. For more information, including the benefits of membership in the WSA, visit www.wsa.org.

    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, networking devices and applications, creating massive complexity that makes an automated IT model a necessity. Opsware 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, network devices and applications. Over 280 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.

    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.

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CONTACT: Opsware Inc. Ken Tinsley, 408-212-5241 (Investor Relations) ktinsley@opsware.com or Barokas Public Relations Karli Overmier, 206-344-3132 (Public Relations) karli@barokas.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA WASHINGTON GEORGIA TRACK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE SOFTWARE NETWORKING TRADESHOW PRODUCT SOURCE: Opsware Inc.

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