Virtualization and cloud infrastructure specialist VMware announced an
evolutionary model of IT infrastructure based on virtualization that unifies
hybrid, private and public cloud resource pools with consistent security,
compliance, management and quality of service. The vCloud Request Manager is
designed to further streamline production and consumption of infrastructure
services by adding automated approval workflows to the vCloud Director
provisioning process.
vCloud Director extends the resource pooling capabilities of the company's
vSphere offering, enabling IT to create "virtual data centers" (VDCs)
and offer them to users through automated self-service access. Once a user
selects infrastructure services from the vCloud Director service catalog, vCloud
Request Manager initiates predefined workflows to coordinate approvals, track
software license inventories and ensure standardization of cloud partitions
according to policy "blueprints."
The company's vCenter CapacityIQ 1.5 solution introduces storage analytics
capabilities that provide enhanced visibility for storage forecasting and the
ability to more accurately pinpoint capacity bottlenecks related to storage.
The solution also includes new resource optimization capabilities designed to
improve capacity trending and scenarios in dynamic virtual and cloud
environments.
These latest releases build on the company's vSphere foundation, the cloud
infrastructure products and services VMware announced in August—vCloud
Director, the vShield product family and vCloud Datacenter Services—which
introduced a hybrid cloud model that bridges private and public clouds.
VMware is also expanding its VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP), more
than doubling the number of products available to participants and introducing
new, simpler pay-for-use bundles and licensing. The VSPP provides pay-for-use
licensing, market development funding, access to software and other programs to
help service providers grow their businesses.
"The transformation of IT infrastructure to a hybrid cloud model has
begun," said Raghu Raghuram, senior vice president and general manager of
virtualization and cloud platforms for VMware. "VMware continues to drive
this next generation of IT forward with solutions for enterprises and service
providers that promise to redefine IT's relationship with its business partners
and enable IT services to be consumed when and how they best serve the goals of
the business."
VMware's vCloud Request Manager is expected to be available in Q4 2010 and
will be licensed per virtual machine (VM) with prices starting at $100 per VM,
while the company's vCenter CapacityIQ 1.5 solution is expected to be available
in Q4 2010 and will be licensed per VM with prices starting at $75 per VM. The
new VSPP pricing model and products will be available starting this month
through the VMware aggregator (distribution) channel.
Cloud Computing 
