Micromuse Announces Reseller Agreement With Sun Microsystems.

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2001

Sun Professional Services Now Reselling Netcool(R) Solutions to

Service Providers and Enterprises Worldwide

Micromuse Inc. (Nasdaq: MUSE), the leading provider of realtime fault management and service assurance software, today announced a global reseller agreement under which Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s Professional Services group is reselling, integrating and supporting Micromuse's Netcool(R) solutions.

Micromuse is already a participant in several high-profile Sun(TM) software initiatives, including the SunTone(SM) Certification & Branding Community for telecommunications providers; the Sun Developer Connection(SM) program; and the recent iForce(SM) Wireless Initiative. The new reseller agreement has already generated successful field deployments of Netcool software based on Sun servers and integrated with Sun technologies such as Java(TM), Solaris(TM), and Solstice SunNet Manager(TM). In addition, Sun has already begun the process of Netcool training and certification of its Professional Services sales and technical teams worldwide.

"The Netcool suite from Micromuse will help our customers address their realtime system and network management service needs," said Paul Rochester, Vice President & General Manager, Sun Professional Services, Sun Microsystems. "Our customers rely on off-the-shelf solutions that can assist in the rapid roll-out of new services, cost-effectively manage infrastructure build-outs, and help ensure the uptime of network-based business services. Micromuse's Netcool suite complements our server and software solutions for our customers."

"Micromuse has enjoyed a long-standing, mutually beneficial relationship with Sun and its customers, and this official agreement is a clear win for both organizations," said Mike Donohue, Micromuse's Senior Vice President, Sales & Business Operations. "As service providers, enterprises, and eBusinesses compete for consumer dollars, they can differentiate their services with integrated, realtime Netcool management solutions available from Sun. We have already seen great benefit from our association with Sun and are looking forward to working with Sun Professional Services at the next level."

The Netcool software suite is immediately available as one of Sun's recommended system and network management service solutions. It will be added to the portfolio of solutions being marketed by Sun's Professional Services consultants worldwide. At the conclusion of the Fiscal Quarter ended December 31st, 2000, Micromuse had more than 1,000 Netcool customers, of which more than 70% are deployed on Sun servers.

The primary components of the Netcool suite, which run on Sun's Solaris platform, are designed to solve the following problems for Sun's enterprise and service provider customers:

-- The flagship Netcool/OMNIbus(TM) solution and Netcool Probes & Monitors(TM)
- such as the Netcool/Internet Service Monitors(TM) software suite, which
determines the availability and response time of Internet services - determine
what the problem is.

-- The Netcool/Impact(TM) application determines who is impacted by the
problem.

-- The Netcool/Precision(TM) application determines precisely where the problem
occurred.

-- The Netcool/Visionary(TM) application determines why the problem occurred.

About the Netcool(R) Suite

Micromuse's Netcool(R) software suite collects management data from more than 300 management environments and network devices, including voice, data and Internet. Fault data is rapidly processed and filtered by the Netcool ObjectServer, an in-memory database. The Netcool suite helps operators to build views of service availability in realtime, helping them manage networks more efficiently. Because it is scalable and deploys rapidly, the Netcool suite helps service providers expand their networks as their markets grow.

About Micromuse

Micromuse Inc. (Nasdaq: MUSE) is the leading provider of realtime fault management and service assurance software. Micromuse's recent list of awards include the TeleStrategies OSS Excellence Award for Best New Product for the Netcool(R)/Visionary application, and Web Hosting Magazine Editor's Choice Award. In addition, Micromuse has been recognized in the Forbes 500, Bloomberg's Top 100 Stocks, the Barron's 500, Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 500 and the San Francisco Chronicle 500. Micromuse customers include AT&T, BT, Cable & Wireless, Cellular One, Charles Schwab, Deutsche Telekom, Digex, EarthLink, GTE, ITC^DeltaCom, MCI Worldcom, One2One, PSINet, XO Communications and a number of financial investment concerns. Headquarters are located at 139 Townsend Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94107; [phone]. The Web site is at www.micromuse.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, SunTone, Sun Developer Connection, Java, Solaris, iForce and Solstice SunNet Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Micromuse and Netcool are registered trademarks of Micromuse Ltd. All other trademarks and registered trademarks in this document are the properties of their respective owners. Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.

The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include the following: fluctuations in customer demand, the Company's ability to manage its growth (including the ability to hire sufficient sales and technical personnel), the risks associated with the expansion of the Company's distribution channels, the risk of new product introductions and customer acceptance of new products; the rapid technological change which characterizes the Company's markets, the risks associated with competition, the risks associated with international sales as the Company expands its markets, and the ability of the Company to compete successfully in the future, as well as other risks identified in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission Filings, including but not limited to those appearing under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and on Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Company's Web site.