VMware Speeds IT Transformation with vCloud Accelerator Services and vCloud Reference Architecture

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2011 — VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced new consulting services and a new reference architecture to help speed enterprise adoption of hybrid cloud computing.

Based on VMware’s extensive experience working with both enterprises and service providers to deploy VMware vCloud^® environments, the vCloud Accelerator Service is part of VMware’s growing portfolio of vCloud Consulting Services to accelerate the journey to the cloud by helping customers cut through the cloud hype, define a strategy, identify starting points, and develop a pragmatic roadmap for IT transformation.

“Our partnership with the VMware consulting team and deployment of vCloud^® Consulting Services has been essential to our successful deployment of cloud computing,” said Alan Russell, vice president, Global Infrastructure Systems, Experian. “Their deep expertise in virtualization and cloud technologies helped us significantly accelerate the design and build of our internal private cloud solution.”

“Enterprise cloud initiatives endeavor to deliver unprecedented levels of IT agility and innovation,” said Matthew Stepanski, vice president, VMware Technical Services Cloud Practice. “VMware has made significant investments to help our customers build and deploy enterprise clouds while addressing the broad range of considerations involved in transitioning to the cloud, including technology architecture and implementation, operational processes, service definition, management practices, financial models and compliance.”

VMware vCloud Consulting Services

The new VMware vCloud Accelerator service delivers an operational VMware vCloud computing environment, running actual customer applications, in 30 days or less1. This allows customers to quickly experience the tangible benefits of a VMware vCloud solution, includingVMware vSphere^®, VMware vCloud Director, VMware vCenter™Chargebackand VMware vShield™, and lays the foundation for broad-scale production deployment of cloud computing.
The VMware vCloud Jumpstart service is designed to get customers started on the path to deploying a VMware vCloud solution. This service provides accelerated knowledge transfer and a ‘hands-on’ opportunity for customers to evaluate a non-production installation of the VMware vCloud solution guided by VMware experts.

“The VMware consulting team had our vCloud^® Director-based private cloud up and running within days, and their expertise helped increase our understanding about this new model of computing,” said Glenn Harper, chief infrastructure architect, Sabre Holdings. “Moving from highly virtualized to private cloud is an evolutionary change with revolutionary implications. We could immediately see great process and financial benefits, but to fully realize them we have to rethink how we do things. The VMware team helped us identify the various technical and organizational considerations involved in the shift – they made the cloud real for Sabre.”

VMware vCloud Reference Architecture

The new VMware vCloud reference architecture is a blueprint to help customers rapidly construct a working VMware vCloud solution leveraging technologies, best-practices and tools that have been proven in real-world enterprise cloud deployments. Based on VMware’s open architecture approach, the vCloud reference architecture provides the foundation for both enterprise and service provider clouds with thorough explanation of architectural elements, component details and examples of working VMware vCloud deployments. The VMware vCloud reference architecture significantly reduces the time required to research, plan and deploy a cloud-based environment.

Service Availability

VMware vCloud Accelerator and VMware vCloud Jumpstart services are available today through VMware Professional Services. As part of VMware’s commitment to building partners’ expertise and productivity around VMware vCloud solutions and services, VMware recently announced enrollment for the Cloud Computing Partner Lighthouse for VMware-qualified members of the VMware Partner Network. The Cloud Computing Partner Lighthouse program provides enablement and delivery materials to partners for vCloud Consulting Services including processes, service definition, management practices and models. VMware will continue to invest in enabling partners, helping to ensure they can offer and deliver a growing range of cloud professional services. To learn more about VMware vCloud Consulting Services, visit: www.vmware.com/services/by-solution/vmware-vcloud-consulting-services.html.

VMware Enterprise Hybrid Cloud

VMware’s cloud infrastructure and management vision is an evolutionary model of IT infrastructure based on virtualization that unifies private and public cloud resources with consistent security, compliance, management and quality of service. Building on the VMware vSphere™ foundation, the cloud infrastructure products and services VMware announced in August 2010 at VMworld – VMware vCloud Director, the VMware vShield product family and VMware vCloud Datacenter Services – introduce a hybrid cloud model that seamlessly bridges private and public clouds.

Additional Resources

About VMware

VMware delivers virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere^® – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2010 revenues of $2.9 billion, more than 250,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization, which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com

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VMware, VMware vCenter, VMware vCloud, VMware vShield and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

1. VMware estimates that this project will take up to six (6) weeks to execute if all assumptions in section 5 of the engagement Statement of Work are met and there are no intervening delays outside of VMware’s control. This is a Time and Materials based engagement. The formal project plan agreed upon by the VMware and Customer Project Managers after the engagement commences shall take precedence over this estimate.