VMware Automates the Entire Virtual Machine Lifecycle

VMware Lifecycle Manager, Now Generally Available, Provides Consistent,
Automated Provisioning, Operating and Decommissioning of Virtual Machines

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VMware, Inc.
(NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to
the datacenter, today announced the general availability of VMware Lifecycle
Manager. The new product provides control over the virtual environment,
showing who owns a virtual machine, when it was requested, who approved it,
where it is deployed, how long it has been in operation and when it is
scheduled to be decommissioned. VMware Lifecycle Manager also gives IT
managers the ability to measure and chargeback the use of virtual machines to
individual department owners. The automation and control of the entire virtual
machine lifecycle eliminates manual and repetitive tasks that often introduce
errors, and it also enables the business to be in strict compliance with IT
policies and standards.
VMware virtual machines encapsulate applications and operating systems in
portable and manageable "containers" that radically improve the security,
availability and performance of both the application and the operating system.
The portability and manageability characteristics of virtual machines makes
them ideally suited for capturing and automating IT processes such as service
delivery. As companies increasingly standardize on VMware Infrastructure and
deploy virtual machines as a best way to run applications, secure data, assure
business continuity and reduce energy consumption, they need efficient tools
to help manage virtual machine proliferation. VMware Lifecycle Manager allows
companies to implement a consistent and automated process for requesting,
approving, deploying, updating, and retiring virtual machines.
"VMware Lifecycle Manager allows customers to fully automate the
provisioning, charging back and decommissioning of virtual machines," said
Raghu Raghuram, vice president of products and solutions at VMware. "VMware
Lifecycle Manager is integral to the many new products VMware is bringing to
market to offer unprecedented levels of automation and control across
datacenters." With VMware Lifecycle Manager, customers can:
-- Create a catalog of standard IT services. Users can select from a
pre-defined menu of virtual machines with different properties such as
processor and memory. This standardization allows infrastructure
administrators to maintain control over the IT environment and minimize
risk.
-- Streamline requests and approvals. VMware Lifecycle Manager establishes
a consistent and scalable mechanism to route and approve all requests
for virtual machines, ensuring compliance with internal policies.
-- Track and control virtual machines. VMware Lifecycle Manager provides
an easy to use Web interface for tracking virtual machine deployments
so IT administrators can know exactly when requests were made, approved
or denied; when and where virtual machines are deployed; and how long
they have been in operation.
-- Eliminate manual, repetitive, and error-prone tasks. As virtual
environments grow, automation is critical in helping IT do more with
less. VMware Lifecycle Manager automates each step in the virtual
machine lifecycle based on predefined policies.
-- Assign Chargeback Metrics. VMware Lifecycle Manager enables IT to
associate chargeback metrics to specific virtual machine deployments
and resource pools. These chargeback metrics can be assigned to
specific business groups, and tied in to existing financial systems.
-- Integrate with existing management tools. VMware Lifecycle Manager
provides APIs for integration with other IT operational tools such as
trouble ticketing, change management, and asset management.

"A recent ESG survey of current and planned virtual server adopters,
showed that current users expect that the number of their virtual machines
will grow by 173% over the next two years," said Mark Bowker, industry analyst
at ESG. "To handle this massive growth, VMware Lifecycle Manager delivers IT
organizations a method to automate best practices by implementing a
standardized approach for managing user requests for the provisioning of
virtual machines, while simultaneously eliminating manual and repetitive
tasks."
VMware Lifecycle Manager is now available for purchase through VMware's
network of distributors, resellers and OEMs. For more information on VMware
Lifecycle Manager, please visit: http://www.vmware.com/go/lcm.
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from
the desktop to the data center. Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to
reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen
security and go green. With 2007 revenues of $1.3 billion, more than 100,000
customers and more than 10,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing
public software companies. VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California
and on the web at http://www.vmware.com.
VMware is a registered trademark 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.
SOURCE VMware, Inc.

Melinda Marks of VMware Public Relations, +1-650-743-4614, mmarks@vmware.com;
or Andrew Schmitt of OutCast Communications, +1-415-392-8282,
andrew@outcastpr.com, for VMware, Inc.