Skytap Cloud Adds Open Virtualization Support

Cloud automation provider Skytap announced the addition of new capabilities for its cloud computing platform. The company is enhancing Skytap Cloud by introducing support for Open Virtualization Format (OVF), advanced notification services, and self-healing automation capabilities for robust virtual private networking.

New features plus Open Virtualization Format

The Skytap Cloud now supports Open Virtualization Format (OVF), an open standard for packaging and distributing virtual machines and software. OVF was a Distributed Management Task Force proposal developed by Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, VMware and XenSource in 2007. With support for OVF Skytap eases VM portability and decreases platform dependence by enabling users to leverage a common set of tools across virtual environments.

"Customers choose Skytap for our unmatched self-service simplicity, deep levels of visibility and control, and the ability to easily move complex virtualized enterprise environments into a secure cloud environment without changes," said Brian White, vice president of products at Skytap. "“These new product capabilities further extend Skytap’s innovation and leadership along these key dimensions."

"“Cloud computing discussions have advanced from what is the cloud and how will it impact my business, to understanding what applications are ideal candidates for different cloud models," said Cameron Haight, Research Vice President, Gartner, Inc. "What we are observing are that many enterprises are leveraging public and even hybrid cloud models for low risk scenarios that still require placement flexibility such as development and testing, product demonstrations and technical training."

The new advanced notification service enables real-time alerts when configurable utilization levels of cloud computing capacity are reached. Real-time notification rules are intuitive to set up and flexible. Self-healing automation features ensure high availability and secure connections to private data centers are maintained.  This secure networking intelligence is efficient at reconnecting available VPN connections with the Skytap hybrid cloud environment.

Skytap provides self-service cloud automation solutions for dynamic workloads. Skytap enables users to run enterprise applications unchanged in the cloud, collaborate securely with global teams, and gain unparalleled business productivity.