LAS VEGAS, Sept. 15 -- Today at VMworld 2008, VMware Inc., the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, announced its vCloud Initiative, with support from 100-plus partners, to deliver enterprise-class cloud computing, by federating compute capacity on demand between virtual datacenters and cloud service providers to support existing and new application loads. By enlisting broad support from partners across the industry, including BT, Rackspace, SAVVIS, Sungard, T-Systems and Verizon Business, the VMware vCloud Initiative is aimed at helping companies both large and small safely tap compute capacity inside and outside their firewalls -- how they want, when they want, and as much as they want -- to ensure quality of service for any application they want to run, internally or as a service.

Today, VMware Infrastructure is broadly used by businesses to operate internal IT infrastructure, as well as by traditional and emerging service providers, to deliver managed IT services such as managed applications, disaster recovery, Web hosting and hosted development environments. Going forward, VMware is expanding its virtual infrastructure into a Virtual Datacenter Operating System with the application, infrastructure, management, and cloud services to run existing application loads as well as future application loads developed on any framework. The core technology underpinning the VMware vCloud Initiative is a set of Cloud vServices that provide the APIs and technologies to enable enterprise-class cloud computing as well as federate between on-premise and off-premise clouds, scaling the infrastructure needed for peak load, service level management or disaster recovery.

"Until now, businesses have faced too high a hurdle to realize the benefits of cloud computing, including wholesale disruptive infrastructure and application changes," said Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer of VMware. "The VMware vCloud Initiative brings together industry innovators to deliver enterprise-class cloud computing for any customer and any application. Whether businesses want to expand their internal IT infrastructure into an internal cloud model or leverage off-premise compute capacity, the VMware platform would give them the flexibility and assurance to dial up and dial down the IT resources they need, when they need them, to run their businesses with high efficiency and agility."

Tiered Service Model for Cloud Providers

The VMware vCloud Initiative enables enterprises and service providers to deliver a tiered set of service offerings ranging from basic cloud services to more advanced capabilities enabled by new Cloud vServices. Depending on the extent of cloud capabilities they are leveraging, service providers can deliver VMware Ready cloud services as follows:

• VMware Ready cloud services leverage the benefits of VMware Infrastructure to deliver flexible enterprise class cloud, hosting, and managed services. VMware Ready cloud services are available today from service providers.
  
  
• VMware Ready Optimized cloud services that use the Cloud vServices API, vApp technology, the OVF specification, and other VMware technologies to enable consistent mobility, provisioning, management, and service assurance of applications running in on-premise datacenters and in off-premise clouds. VMware Ready Optimized cloud services are under development with partners.
  
  
• VMware Ready Integrated cloud services enable a common approach to integrated manageability between on-premise and external cloud environments as part of vCenter, VMware's management product line. In addition, other integrated cloud service offerings will deliver cloud-optimized versions of VMware's business continuity, virtual appliance authoring, and other key capabilities. VMware Ready Integrated cloud services are under development with partners.

"BT already uses VMware's current ESX technology as a key component of our virtual data centre capability," said Stefan van Overtveldt, vice president of emerging technology and innovation at BT Global Services. "It underpins both our internal IT requirements and our external customer journey: Operational Efficiency IT. BT is working closely with VMware on various Initiatives to offer our customers across the globe BT's Service Oriented Infrastructure. This next generation of networked IT services will join together the management of network and compute capacity to achieve integrated service levels. BT's Service Oriented Infrastructure strategy and roadmap is aligned with the VMware vCloud Initiative."

"One of the keys for success in cloud-based offerings will be the extensibility of the cloud services to customers' existing applications. VMware's vCloud Initiative helps bring together the right technology and partners to enable the flexibility and choice enterprise customers will require," said John Humphreys, vice president of research at IDC. "It's a smart move to leverage their extensive partner ecosystem, rather than open datacenters of their own. This gives customers the advantage of a broad choice of locations and the ability to choose providers based on quality of services as applications and business services are no longer hard-wired with a single provider."

Support for Both New and Existing Applications

The VMware vCloud Initiative will give enterprises choice and flexibility by enabling any application from legacy Windows NT to modern day Ruby-on-Rails to be deployed on-premise or off-premise -- without disruption. Unlike other compute clouds that require applications to be built specifically to a single cloud computing platform and require complete rewrites of existing applications, millions of existing applications currently running on VMware Infrastructure can run in a VMware-based cloud without modification. For any size of organization, this application compatibility will provide the flexibility to run applications where it makes the most sense, on premise or in the cloud.

"We have been using VMware ourselves to provide cloud computing services to other businesses for their Human Capital Management (HCM) needs," said Michael Gioja, CIO of Workstream. "Our business cycles are just too fast to couple hardware to just a specific business, environment or any spikes in capacity. Instead we have over 100 servers in a cloud that each business uses as a service in a cloud via our Talent Management portal that anyone can use. Our clients are also provisioned with multiple environments so they can migrate from configuration to user acceptance to production per their cycles providing great flexibility for our Fortune 500 clients."

"The VMware vCloud Initiative will further enable our customers to take advantage of cloud computing," said Chris Gesell, director of IT Solutions product marketing of Verizon Business. "Through our expansive global IP network, worldwide datacenter footprint and rich skill set, Verizon Business is uniquely positioned to help customers harness the power of cloud computing, which will make their infrastructure more efficient and agile."

In addition, the VMware vCloud Initiative can leverage the large range of applications supported by software vendors running on VMware, as well as the growing ecosystem of VMware Ready Virtual Appliances. With more than 850 virtual appliances in the VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace, deploying new applications to the cloud or on-premise becomes very simple. ISVs are leveraging VMware Ready Virtual Appliances to enable easy patching, management, and migration of applications in and out of cloud services. Looking forward, vApp brings an enhanced model for describing and managing applications. vApp will be able to leverage the industry standard Open Virtualization Format (OVF) to enable enhanced service levels, management, and migration capabilities across datacenters and to the cloud.

VMware vCloud Initiative Enables Broad Range of Cloud Computing Providers

The VMware vCloud Initiative enables all kinds of customers and use cases to leverage cloud services with an extensive and diverse ecosystem of services. With over 100 partners worldwide, the VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP) extends Cloud vServices and creates mobility and interoperability across common services built by VMware, service providers and customers themselves. As part of the VMware vCloud Initiative, the VSPP program continues to be enhanced to more effectively serve this community of partners with licensing, tools, training and support to accelerate their ability to deliver VMware Ready Cloud vServices. Partners can learn more by going to www.vmware.com/go/vspp.

For a list partners in the VMware vCloud Initiative, visit www.vmware.com/go/vcloud.

"Utility computing was the forerunner for what evolved into the enterprise cloud computing solutions we are seeing today," said Bryan Doerr, CTO of SAVVIS, Inc. "SAVVIS pioneered a virtualized IT services delivery platform and now offers VMware-based virtualized services that will enable enterprises to design new systems, optimize security, performance, and reliability attributes along with the scalability of cloud solutions, and meet a range of enterprise requirements."

Cloud Computing for the Virtual Datacenter OS

A highly elastic, self-managing, and self-healing platform is critical to enabling cloud computing both in the enterprise and on the public internet. The Virtual Datacenter OS from VMware comprises Cloud vServices with unique capabilities that enable optimal delivery of cloud computing:

• Best-in-class hypervisor that provides highest single server efficiency: VMware ESX and ESXi enable optimal use of every type of server resource while minimizing overhead. VMware has a patented approach to efficient memory, CPU and i/o virtualization that allows for the highest consolidation ratios and linear scaling, which allows increasing numbers of virtual machines to run on a single host without performance degradation.
  
  
• The ability to aggregate cost-effective x86 servers, storage and network into a single platform to achieve the highest cluster efficiency: VMware aggregates compute resources from farms of physical servers, storage and network, and transforms them into logical resource pools. These pools of virtualized resources are allocated to applications based on business priorities and enable levels of resource efficiency previously not possible in the physical world.
  
  
• Highly scalable infrastructure management via fully automated datacenter: vCenter will include a powerful orchestration engine, vCenter Orchestrator, which will enable the development of customized workflows that automate operational tasks through a simple drag and drop interface, providing a far more extensible and robust automation framework than scripting.
  
  
• Utility, pay-for-what-you-use infrastructure: VMware's goal is to enable IT to act as a true utility by continuously managing capacity and to automate tracking and chargeback of the costs associated with those cloud computing services. vCenter Chargeback will enable automated tracking and chargeback of costs, thus enabling the datacenter to function as a utility.

"As a global provider of converged IT and telecommunication (ICT) services, we at T-Systems continue to leverage industry-leading products and technologies from VMware in order to provide flexible, high-quality utility and cloud computing enterprise application services for our business customers," said Dr. Gregory O. Smith, vice president of technical deal solution design at T-Systems North America.

About VMware

VMware is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter. 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 120,000 customers and nearly 18,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., VMware is majority-owned by EMC Corp. and on the Web at www.vmware.com.