Editing Opsware

{{short description|Software company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Opsware, Inc.
| logo = [[Image:Logo opsware.png|Opsware logo]]
| type = Now owned by [[OpenText]]
| foundation = September, 1999 (as Loudcloud, Inc.)
| location = [[Sunnyvale, California]]
| key_people = Marc Andreessen: [[Chairman]] and founder,<ref name="Sheff2000-08">{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.08/loudcloud_pr.html|publisher=[[Wired Magazine]]|title=Crank it up|author=David Sheff|date=August 2000}}</ref><br> Ben Horowitz: [[CEO]] and founder,<ref name="Sheff2000-08"/><br> Tim Howes: CTO and founder,<ref name="Sheff2000-08"/><br> In Sik Rhee: [[Chief operating officer|COO]] and founder,<ref name="Sheff2000-08"/><br> [[John O'Farrell (venture capitalist)|John O'Farrell]]: [[Executive Vice President|EVP]]
| products = Cloud and automation and IT service management [[software]]
| homepage = [https://www.microfocus.com/ Micro Focus web page]
}}

'''Opsware, Inc.''' was a software company based in [[Sunnyvale, California]], that offered products for server and network device [[provisioning (IT)|provisioning]], [[configuration management|configuration]], and [[systems management|management]] targeted toward enterprise customers.  Opsware had offices in [[New York City]], [[Redmond, Washington]], [[Cary, North Carolina]], and an engineering office in [[Cluj, Romania]].

In July 2007, [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]] announced that it had agreed to acquire Opsware for $1.65 billion in cash ($14.25 per share).  The acquisition closed on September 21, 2007.<ref>[http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070921xa.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN HP Closes Opsware Acquisition news release]

</ref>

HP subsequently split into [[HP Inc.]] and [[Hewlett Packard Enterprise]] (HPE). The latter included Opsware's products and services and, in 2017, the HPE Software business group spin-merged with [[Micro Focus]]. Micro Focus was acquired by [[OpenText]] in 2023.

==History==
The company that was formerly known as Loudcloud was founded on September 9, 1999 (i.e., 9/9/99) by [[Marc Andreessen]], [[Ben Horowitz]], [[Tim Howes]], and In Sik Rhee as a managed [[service provider|services provider]].<ref>[http://voices.allthingsd.com/20100317/the-case-for-the-fat-startup/ "The Case for the Fat Start-Up." Wall St. Journal's All Things Digital: 3/17, Ben Horowitz.]
</ref>  The company was one of the first to offer [[software as a service]] computing with an Infrastructure as a Service model.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120905093425/http://www.computeractive.co.uk/vnunet/analysis/2131608/andreessen-goes-public-plans-loudcloud?vnu_lt=ca_art_related_articles Computeractive.co.uk]</ref> According to ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', Loudcloud was one of the first vendors to talk about [[cloud computing]] and Software as a Service.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.08/loudcloud_pr.html Wired Magazine. "Crank it up". David Sheff. 2000-08]</ref>

In June 2000, Loudcloud raised $120 million, in what was at the time the largest second round of funding.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Braunschweig |first=Carolina |date=3 July 2000 |title=VCs Rain $120M Down on Loudcloud |journal=Private Equity Week |page=3}}</ref> This was shortly followed by a $100 million raise by one of its competitors, [[Totality Corporation]] (at the time known as MimEcom).<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2000/07/31/story2.html?page=all San Francisco Business Times. "Net startup MimEcom.com bags $100M" Todd Stein. 2000-07-30]</ref>

After selling the operations side of the business to [[Electronic Data Systems|EDS]] in the summer of 2002, Loudcloud became Opsware and went to market as a technology company, offering the software that had been developed internally to support customer systems via automated server life-cycle management.  In 2004, Opsware acquired [[Enterprise Asset Management|asset management]] systems provider Tangram Enterprise Solutions,<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_Feb_23/ai_113529220/?tag=rel.res1/ Business Wire. Opsware Inc. Completes Acquisition of Tangram Enterprise Solutions; Integration of Products Furthers Opsware's Lead in Automation and Utility Computing]</ref>  and in February 2005 acquired network device configuration management vendor Rendition Networks.<ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/4993865-1.html/ Business Wire. Opsware Completes Rendition Acquisition, Furthering Leadership in Rapidly Growing IT Automation Market. Retrieved 2010-02-27.]</ref>  In July 2006 Opsware acquired CreekPath for its Data Center Automation (DCA) product offering to add provisioning of storage components.<ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/5345311-1.html/ Business Wire. Opsware Completes Acquisition of Creekpath Systems; Acquisition Provides Foundation Technology. Retrieved 2010-02-27.]</ref> In April 2007 Opsware acquired Seattle-based iConclude and its run-book automation software in order to integrate datacenter management from end-to-end.<ref>[http://www.nwinnovation.com/story/s-0008833.html Northwest Innovation. iConclude Acquisition Completes. Retrieved 2010-02-27.]</ref>

In July 2007, [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]] announced that it had agreed to acquire Opsware for $1.65 billion in cash ($14.25 per share), sixteen times revenues. It was HP's third largest acquisition at the time behind [[Compaq]] and [[Mercury Interactive]].<ref>[https://www.pcworld.com/article/134946/hp_buying_opsware_in_16_billion_deal.html/ China Martens, IDG News Service. HP Buying Opsware in $1.65 Billion Deal. PC World]</ref> HP marketed Opsware products and [[software as a service]] solutions as part of the [[HP Software Business Unit]].<ref>
[https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-271-273_4000_100__/ HP Data Center Automation Center product pages]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2015, HP's Software business unit was spun off to become part of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.  Two years later in 2017, HP Software merged with UK-based Micro Focus in a spin-merge. In 2023, OpenText acquired Micro Focus. All former Opsware tools are now grouped under the OpenText Hybrid Cloud Management suite.

==Products==
Opsware had three main systems that it marketed.  The Server Automation System (SAS) was designed to provide provisioning, policy enforcement, compliance reporting, and [[Patch (computing)|patching]] of [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Unix]] and [[Linux]] servers across thousands of servers. It is now sold as HP Server Automation software.<ref>[https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-271-273^14711_4000_100__/ HP Website product pages]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
The Network Automation System (NAS) was designed to provide network device provisioning, policy enforcement, security lock-down, software management, and compliance reporting across thousands of devices from over 500 variants of device vendors, models, and OS versions.  This product was also [[OEM|OEM'd]] by [[Cisco Systems]] and was called the  Cisco "Network Compliance Manager" (NCM). It is now sold as HP Network Automation software.<ref>[https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-271-273^14681_4000_100__/ HP Product Web page]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  The third system marketed by Opsware was the Process Automation System (PAS), designed to provide run-book automation from former partner iConclude (who was acquired in March 2007). It is now sold as HP Operations Orchestration software.<ref>[https://archive.today/20121217145748/https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-271-273%5E14694_4000_100__&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN/ HP Product Web pages]</ref>

==Customers==
Opsware customers included its now parent [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]], [[General Electric|GE]], [[Electronic Data Systems|EDS]] (whose acquisition was completed by HP August 26, 2008,<ref>[http://gigaom.com/2008/08/26/hp-completes-eds-buy-heads-for-the-clouds/ Stacey Higginbotham. GigaOM. HP Completes EDS Buy, Heads for the Clouds]</ref> and is now called [[HP Enterprise Services]]<ref>[http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2008/080826xa.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USENHP News Release. EDS, an HP Company, Becoming HP Enterprise Services]</ref>), the [[Federal government of the United States]] and numerous [[Fortune 500]] companies who used the software to automate their IT infrastructure.

==References==
<references/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.microfocus.com/about/press-room/article/2017/micro-focus-completes-merger-with-hpe-software/|title=Micro Focus Completes Merger with HPE Software Business, Creating One of World's Largest Pure-play Software Companies {{!}} Micro Focus|website=www.microfocus.com|access-date=2017-12-20}}</ref>
*Lawton, Christopher and Kingsbury, Kevin. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118519245607574873 "H-P Makes Move Into Data Centers"], ''The Wall Street Journal'', July 23, 2007. Accessed July 23, 2007.

==External links==
{{Portal|Companies}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110202204710/https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-271-273_4000_100__ HP IT Management Web site]
*  [https://archive.today/20121217151642/https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-23%5E24428_4000_100__&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN__ HP Software as a Service Web site]

{{OpenText}}

[[Category:OpenText]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 1999]]
[[Category:Companies based in Sunnyvale, California]]
[[Category:Hewlett-Packard acquisitions]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]