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DynamicOps Adds Desktop Automation, Multi-Vendor Support


BURLINGTON, Mass., Dec. 10 -- DynamicOps, a venture-funded Credit Suisse spinoff, announced important new features for its Virtual Resource Manager (VRM), extending the virtualization management software from servers to desktops. The new features make it faster, more efficient, and easier to organize, create, and control a virtual desktop environment. In addition, VRM 3.1 fully supports Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor.

New features of VRM include:

  • Extensions that support key virtual desktop components included in Citrix XenDesktop and VMware's virtual desktop infrastructure.
  • Microsoft's Hyper-V support.
  • The VRM Infrastructure Organizer, for fast, efficient mapping of an organization's virtual assets into its existing shared infrastructure.

VRM automates the management of virtual servers and desktops, from the time they're created until they're decommissioned. Innovations such as VRM's desktop extensions help IT organizations deliver high value and competitive advantages to their customers.

"Desktop virtualization is taking off, and large scale deployments see high rates of change. These deployments need management tools to be efficient and economical," said Rachel Chalmers, research director for infrastructure at the 451 Group. "DynamicOps' VRM can let desktop groups choose best-of-breed point products while retaining overall control of their environment."

VRM desktop extensions support Citrix XenServer and key components in Citrix XenDesktop, including Citrix Provisioning Server, and Desktop Delivery Controller. In addition to its current support for VMware's ESX server and Virtual Center, early in 2009 DynamicOps will release additional extensions for VMware's just-announced VMware View 3 virtual desktop stack.

VRM, combined with these extensions, allows organizations to deploy virtual desktop environments that can scale to thousands of virtual machines, while reducing operational costs.

In addition to increased utilization of the virtual infrastructure, VRM's automation capabilities greatly reduce the time to scale to large deployments, helping organizations accelerate their breakeven time, while eliminating the need to write and maintain scripts or in-house utilities that are normally required during production roll out phases. VRM's ability to integrate and abstract third-party technologies allows IT staff to easily add, change, and remove components that enhance the user experience and reduce cost without retraining operation support groups.

The VRM Infrastructure Organizer provides an efficient method to inventory physical and virtual assets, and map virtual resources into their shared infrastructure. Once administrators discover and organize their virtual and physical compute infrastructure, VRM continues its automated management of assets to facilitate capacity planning, auditing, enforce policy, and provide chargeback for resources consumed. Any new virtual machines created are automatically provisioned within the organizational framework established. VRM provides the ability to define and manage policies for different types of desktop users, based on varying organizational metrics and attributes.

"Enterprises are going to implement their desktop virtualization solutions on multiple hypervisors and will need technologies to help monitor, manage, and maintain large virtual environments efficiently and cost-effectively," explained Mick Hollison, vice president of product management for the Desktop Delivery Group at Citrix Systems Inc. "Citrix XenDesktop is built on an open architecture and supports any hypervisor for running virtual desktops. The combination of Citrix solutions and DynamicOps management capabilities enables them to access a data center environment where virtualization is fast, cost-effective, and efficient."

DynamicOps has also added interoperability between VRM 3.1 and Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor, giving enterprises more options to meet functionality needs as well as price point.

VRM provides a single management console to manage Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft hypervisors, making interoperability between these different platforms faster, easier and in line with stringent budget requirements.

About DynamicOps

DynamicOps offers virtual infrastructure provisioning and management software. It is a private company based in Burlington, Mass. VRM creates a secure environment where virtual machines are provisioned, tracked, and maintained from cradle to grave. www.dynamicops.com.

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