Rheem Manufacturing Selects Marimba to Manage Software for Desktops and Laptops.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2002

Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management Products to Reduce Help Desk Calls

By 30 Percent and Improve End-user Service

Marimba, Inc. (Nasdaq:MRBA), a leading provider of systems management solutions built for e-business, today announced that Rheem Manufacturing will use Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products to distribute and manage applications and content throughout its manufacturing facilities. Rheem Manufacturing, the world's largest manufacturer of water heaters, projects that by using Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products, it will reduce help desk calls by at least 30 percent and improve end-user quality of service.

With a distribution network throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Rheem Manufacturing needed a flexible software distribution solution that could reduce total cost of ownership through automated software delivery and asset management, self-healing, and bandwidth efficiency. "We performed an exhaustive review of seven software vendors, and Marimba demonstrated their ability to satisfy our desktop and laptop management requirements - something that no other vendor could do," said Anthony Green, information technology manager for Rheem Manufacturing.

Help Desk Call Reduction

Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products will allow Rheem Manufacturing to reduce the number of help desk calls through automated software delivery, self-healing, and bandwidth efficiency.

-- Administrators can automatically deliver a new application or update to a
targeted group of users or machines generated from a directory service or from
an inventory scan. Automatic delivery reduces help desk calls by eliminating
the need to send out a CD or for a technician to make a call and install the
application.

-- In the event that an application is inadvertently corrupted, an end-user can
execute self-healing from the desktop, thereby repairing the application and
eliminating unnecessary support calls.

-- Compression, differential updating, and bandwidth management help to make
updates as small as possible for delivery over slow, congested links. Check
point restart allows the delivery to be completed in a reliable manner. This
efficiency and reliability helps minimize the number of download-related help
desk calls.

Green added, "As our business becomes increasingly dependent on PC applications, the requirements to automate and cost-effectively deliver and update software across our enterprise have become critical. Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products will allow us to keep our administrative costs and headcount down, while at the same time providing users with the highest level of customer service."

Improved Quality of Service

With Marimba's solution, Rheem will be able to significantly improve the quality of service its IT department provides to end-users. The combination of bandwidth efficiency, check point restart for reliability, and background inventory scanning and updating will help minimize the impact of software updates on end-users and improve overall quality of service.

"We are able to help enterprises streamline their IT management processes to meet the challenges of managing their infrastructure," said Kia Behnia, vice president of marketing for Marimba. "Our Desktop/Mobile Management products allow our customers to manage more with the same IT resources, which ultimately reduces administrative costs."

ABOUT MARIMBA

Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Marimba, Inc. (Nasdaq:MRBA) provides systems management solutions built for e-business. Marimba's Server Management, Desktop/Mobile Management, and Embedded Management product families allow Global 2000 companies to better manage their IT resources, increase operational efficiency and reduce IT costs. For more information, please call 888-800-5444, or visit our Web site at www.marimba.com.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbors created by these sections. These forward-looking statements include Rheem Manufacturing's planned use of Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products to distribute and manage applications and content throughout its manufacturing facilities, in order to reduce help desk calls by at least 30 percent, reduce total cost of ownership, keep administrative costs and headcount down, and significantly improve end-user quality of service; certain technical and performance benefits Rheem expects to achieve with Marimba's Desktop/Mobile Management products (including automated software delivery and asset management, self-healing, bandwidth efficiency, check point restart, and background inventory scanning and updating); and the expectation that Rheem will make Marimba's products part of its standard infrastructure. Those results are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the remaining time and effort required to complete Rheem's deployment, which could be greater than expected; technical challenges specific to Rheem's implementation, which could impact whether Rheem is able to achieve expected benefits with Marimba's products; and other business factors particular to Rheem and Marimba which could impact whether Rheem continues to use Marimba's products in the future.

Actual results may differ materially due to these and other factors. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Marimba's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see the Risk Factors described in Marimba's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Marimba assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Marimba is a registered trademark of Marimba, Inc. in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. Other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.