News Releases8 min read

VMware Extends Cloud Management Capabilities With vCloud Suite(TM) Updates

New Approach Simplifies and Automates Management of the Software-Defined Datacenter; Extends Multi-Platform, Multi-Cloud Management

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 9, 2012) - VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today unveiled an updated cloud management portfolio, including significant enhancements to the management products in the recently released VMware vCloud® Suite. VMware is also introducing a new product to the suite, VMware vCloud Automation Center™ 5.1, and is updating the VMware IT Business Management Suite™ to further simplify and automate management while empowering IT to govern services across multiple, heterogeneous clouds.

"Businesses of all sizes are leveraging a decade of virtualization investments to transform IT through the software-defined datacenter," said Raghu Raghuram, executive vice president, cloud infrastructure and management, VMware. "VMware's cloud management offerings fundamentally recast management for the cloud era, allowing customers to operate at cloud scale and begin to act as brokers of IT services to the business." 

VMware Cloud Management™ solutions help deliver the software-defined datacenter, allowing customers to achieve the efficiency and agility of cloud computing. VMware's approach to managing hybrid and heterogeneous clouds addresses three critical areas:

  • Cloud Service Provisioning: Automate the provisioning and governance of infrastructure, applications and desktops as a service according to business and IT policies.
  • Cloud Operations Management: Leverage analytics and intelligence to help ensure the performance, compliance and efficiency of cloud infrastructure.
  • Cloud Business Management: Govern and manage cloud services as a critical element of running IT like a business.

"The flexibility and scalability enabled by our VMware-powered private cloud helps us address business needs by accelerating the delivery of business-critical applications and services," said Fred Pond, vice president and CIO, Columbia Sportswear. "Our investment in VMware cloud management helps us simplify and automate the management of our cloud. This powerful combination means that Columbia Sportswear is able to respond to business and market opportunities faster than ever before."

VMware vCloud Suite Gets Enhanced Service Provisioning and Operations Management
Introduced in August 2012, the VMware vCloud Suite brings together the components customers need to build, operate and manage cloud infrastructure. Today VMware is introducing significant advancements to the management components of the VMware vCloud Suite:

  • vCloud Automation Center™ 5.1 -- Multi-cloud infrastructure and desktop provisioning
    To help customers better govern the provisioning of IT services, VMware is introducing VMware vCloud Automation Center 5.1, a new addition to the VMware vCloud Suite. Based on DynamicOps, which VMware acquired in July 2012, VMware vCloud Automation Center 5.1 acts as a service governor, enabling policy-based provisioning across VMware-based private and public clouds, physical infrastructure, multiple hypervisors and Amazon Web Services.

    Through a self-service portal -- essentially a cross-cloud storefront -- vCloud Automation Center will allow authorized administrators, developers or business users to request new IT services or manage existing resources. VMware vCloud Automation Center 5.1 will now be integrated with VMware vCloud Director to allow customers to leverage virtual datacenters comprised of VMware vCloud Suite's software-defined services. vCloud Automation Center 5.1 will also integrate with vCenter Orchestrator to automate IT process workflows across both VMware and customers' existing management tools and processes.
    Learn more about vCloud Automation Center 5.1

  • vFabric™ Application Director™ 5.0 -- Provision applications on any cloud
    vFabric Application Director standardizes and accelerates how customers model and deploy multi-tier applications to any cloud through easy-to-create blueprints with standardized, pre-approved OS and middleware components. While optimized for VMware vCloud Suite-based clouds, vFabric Application Director 5.0 will make it possible for customers to use the same blueprints to deploy applications across multiple virtual and hybrid cloud infrastructures, including Amazon EC2.

    With this release, VMware will continue to expand vFabric Application Director application support to include all Microsoft packaged applications (Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint) as well as custom applications (Java, .Net, Ruby on Rails). VMware vFabric Application Director will also help simplify ongoing application maintenance tasks such as code and configuration, and it will support auto-scaling of applications in response to changing business needs.
    Learn more about what's new in vFabric Application Director 5.0

  • vCenter Operations Management Suite™ 5.6 -- Embedded, integrated cloud operations management
    The vCenter Operations Management Suite applies patented analytics to integrated performance, capacity and configuration management, providing the intelligence customers need to proactively enable service levels in hybrid cloud environments. The VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite can double the operational savings customers receive from VMware vSphere®. With this release, VMware will include the performance management capabilities of the VMware vCenter Operations Suite in all versions of VMware vSphere.

    Enhancements to the VMware vCenter Operations Suite 5.6 continue to deliver on VMware's strategy to converge management disciplines, incorporating new compliance views into the operations dashboard to help customers proactively enforce compliance with IT policies, security guidelines and regulatory requirements. New, customizable, group-based views will enable IT operations to more closely align with business priorities. VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.6 will also include VMware vFabric Hyperic application-level monitoring to help customers proactively manage the health of business-critical applications, including Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint, Windows OS as well as Oracle Database and custom Java applications. 
    Learn more about what's new in the vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.6

  • vCloud Connector™ 2.0 -- Hybrid cloud portability
    VMware is introducing significant enhancements to VMware vCloud Connector, a bridge that enables customers to transfer VMs and applications across vSphere and vCloud Director private cloud environments as well as public clouds from VMware vCloud Service Providers. vCloud Connector 2.0 will help make it possible to extend both networks and workload catalogs across hybrid cloud environments -- in effect, extending the logical boundaries of the datacenter -- without the need for reconfiguring networks or settings when moving workloads. Also, distributed teams will be able to coordinate their development efforts by ensuring that everyone has a single, synchronized workload catalog that spans across the cloud environment. Learn more about what's new in vCloud Connector 2.0

According to Gartner, "Cloud computing is accentuating the role of IT as a service broker. Success in implementing a cloud computing strategy requires IT infrastructure and operations to become proactive in creating pre-defined policies, service levels and actions that take place automatically in the runtime environment."

VMware IT Business Management Suite™ 7.5 Enables Cloud Business Management
As the strategic importance of cloud computing grows, IT needs solutions to manage the business of cloud effectively by measuring the performance and cost across all cloud services -- infrastructure, application and end-user computing. The VMware IT Business Management Suite gives customers transparency into the cost, quality and value of cloud services, providing a business context for IT activities and enabling fact-based decisions aligned with business goals and ultimately transform to become a broker of IT services.

Today, VMware is introducing VMware IT Business Management Suite 7.5 with a new IT benchmarking module that includes more than 3,500 metrics across 18 domains, allowing IT organizations to compare their performance with industry and functional peers. VMware IT Business Management Suite 7.5 also includes enhancements to its IT Finance Manager capabilities that will further automate and streamline the budgeting process.

Read industry comments on VMware's Cloud Management solutions.

VMware Cloud Ops Services and IP -- A New Operating Model for the Cloud Era
These advancements to VMware's management portfolio are part of a complete solution approach to cloud computing, including new Cloud Ops Intellectual Property (IP) and advisory, transformation and education services announced in August 2012. Based on VMware's experience working with hundreds of successful cloud implementations worldwide, Cloud Ops helps customers build, operate, staff and measure the impact of cloud computing. Specifically, VMware announced new cloud operations services, new and updated technology consulting services, new education offerings and certifications and VMware Architecture Toolkit (vCAT) 3.0.
Read the Press Release: VMware Defines New Operating Model for the Cloud Era

Pricing & Availability
VMware's updated Cloud Management Solutions are expected to be available in Q4 2012.

Additional Resources

About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 400,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the potential benefits, planned features and expected availability of the vCloud Suite 5.1, the VMware IT Business Management Suite 7.5 and the VMware Cloud Ops Services and IP, the expected benefits to customers and the expected transformation of IT through the software-defined datacenter. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer or information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization market, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) our customers' ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and desktop virtualization; (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; and (ix) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

VMware, VMware vSphere, vCloud Director, VMware vCloud, vCloud Automation Center, vFabric Application Director, vCenter Operations Management Suite, vCloud Connector and vCenter Orchestrator 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 organizations. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Contact Information:

Contacts
Eloy Ontiveros
VMware Global Communications
eontiveros@vmware.com
(650) 427-6145

Alex Kirschner
The OutCast Agency for VMware
vmware@theoutcastagency.com
(415) 345-4783