VMworld Europe: New Products, SAP, EMC, NVIDIA, CA

VMworld Europe 2011 is wrapping up in Copenhagen and VMware and partners EMC, NVIDIA and CA had news releases about product launches, partnerships and integrations.

VMware unveils three product suites.  VMware (VMW) unveiled three product suites designed to simplify and automate IT management. The company announced enhancements to VMware vCenter Operations and the introduced  new VMware vFabric Application Management and VMware IT Business Management suites. Introduced earlier this year VMware has enhanced vCenter Operations with deeper integration of vCenter Capacity IQ and vCenter Configuration Manager.  The new vFabric Application Management Suite is comprised of two solutions that integrate application disciplines to unite and streamline developer and operations efforts.  The new IT Business Management Suite includes IT Finance Manager, IT Service Level Manager and IT Vendor Manager. "Cloud computing requires a new way of thinking about the delivery of IT services," said Cameron Haight, research vice president, Gartner. "Automation is key not only to enable scale, but to keep pace with the rate of change in dynamic environments. And, as the infrastructure itself becomes programmable, management tools and processes must be updated to support an integrated, agile approach that spans across the IT divide."

VMware selected by SAP.  VMware announced that SAP has selected the VMware cloud infrastructure and management platform for one of its internal global IT modernization and reorganization projects designed to more effectively support business demand.  Following a successful internal automation and private cloud project, SAP IT has expanded its cooperation with VMware, striving to reach an overall virtualization rate of 80 percent of its global IT infrastructure. "SAP's selection of VMware technology for its global IT infrastructure further validates our IT as a Service vision,” said Maurizio Carli, senior vice president and general manager, EMEA, VMware. "SAP has bought into this vision and our technology delivery, investing in an almost complete stack including datacenter, enterprise management and desktop solutions."

EMC and VMware integrate VPLEX.  EMC announced that EMC VPLEX is now certified by VMware to implement vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC). VPLEX is a  virtual storage technology that federates data located on multiple storage systems that allows storage resources in multiple data centers to be pooled together and accessed anywhere. EMC and VMware working together to certify clustered storage enables a higher level of availability and data mobility. "EMC is excited to accelerate the benefits of cloud computing with stretched VMware vSphere clusters across active/active datacenters," said EMC's Chad Sakac, Vice President, VMware Technology Alliance. "Combining industry-leading features in EMC VPLEX and VMware vSphere customers can now achieve simple workload mobility across their data centers while at the same time decreasing management overhead."

VMware and NVIDIA partner for workstation-class virtual desktop.  NVIDIA and VMware announced a strategic partnership to advance virtual 3D graphics technology and enable the remote delivery of high-end, workstation-class virtual desktops and applications for engineers, artists and scientists. Within a virtualized environment on a remote server the NVIDIA Quadro Virtual Graphics Platform delivers server-based Quadro professional graphics cards via a network connection, providing a high level of graphics horsepower to users on demand. "Working together, VMware and NVIDIA are pushing the traditional boundaries of desktop virtualization by bringing workstation-class 3D Graphics to hosted virtual desktops and universal application access," said Vittorio Viarengo, vice president, End-User Computing, VMware. "Once only needed by power-users, 3D graphics are fast becoming a requirement amongst all end-users as they use Office 2010, and even the Windows 7 Aero interface. Our partnership with NVIDIA will enable 3D capabilities for power-users as well as a growing number of use cases from any endpoint device, even tablets and thin clients."

CA and VMware integrate products.  CA Technologies (CA) announced a connector for integrating CA Process Automation, a central component of both CA Automation Suite for Data Centers and CA Automation Suite for Clouds, with VMware vCloud Director. The new capability enables more efficient service delivery and helps to lower costs by automating and orchestrating IT operational processes, such as change, configuration, and financial management, involving VMware vCloud Director. “One of the best ways for VMware customers to increase ROI and avoid creating new technology islands is to integrate their VMware infrastructure investment into their IT service management and other processes using CA Process Automation,” said Roger Pilc, general manager, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies. “Taking advantage of our many management solutions via the integration of CA Process Automation and vCloud Director enables customers to achieve automated processes across their data centers and cloud infrastructures, and a common, integrated service view, regardless of whether workloads or business services reside on virtual and physical infrastructure. The connector also helps customers gain end-to-end service control, lowering the risk of human error and improving service delivery efficiency.”