Platform Computing announced the next version of its virtual environment management product for the enterprise data center, Platform VM Orchestrator (VMO) 4. Platform VMO 4 provides faster delivery of virtual computer environments to end users while optimizing resource utilization, availability, and power consumption, to improve an enterprise's return on investment from its virtualization environment. The solution offers a cost-effective enterprise virtualization management solution for Citrix XenServer, with support for virtualization platforms from other vendors to be delivered in the coming months.

Effectively managing virtualization environments can be a challenge facing IT organizations today. Subsequently administrators need tools specifically built for managing virtualization deployments, optimizing computer resources, and removing performance bottlenecks in order to meet escalating business demands. Platform VMO 4 increases IT productivity and responsiveness to business service levels through a Self-Service portal that supports delegated administration and allows end users to request and control usage of their own VMs without administrator involvement. At the core of VMO's automated management is the multi-host dynamic resource management engine, which increases resource utilization across the virtual environment to remove bottlenecks and server silos according to flexible configurable policies that map to business priorities.

"With Platform VMO 4 for Citrix XenServer, companies can manage enterprise virtual environments more efficiently while supporting changing business demands," said Michel Koopman, Director, Business Development, Citrix Systems. "Platform offers XenServer customers an agile virtual environment management solution that helps them make the most of their XenServer deployment."

A recent deployment of Platform VMO 4 is the Singapore National Cloud. Platform VMO 4 and several other Platform software products form the core management of this computing cloud to deliver software, computing power and storage as on-line services to business and public sector agencies across Singapore.>

"The Singapore National Cloud equips enterprises and consumers with on-demand and pay-as-you-use access to software, compute resources and immense data storage capacity," said Alvin Kok, Executive Vice President, International, Singapore Computer Systems Ltd, the lead system integrator for the Singapore Cloud. "We are pleased to work with Platform and other partners on this important project to make IT resources more affordable to the masses, so that companies can focus on core competencies instead of worrying about investing hefty sums in IT servers to sharpen their business competitiveness."

"Enterprises deploying virtualization technologies are driven by the need to reduce costs and to increase the flexibility to meet current and future IT requirements with the minimum amount of resources," said Jingwen Wang, Vice President Products, Platform Computing. "By enabling virtual infrastructures to respond more quickly and effectively to business demands, Platform VMO 4 delivers a cost-effective solution that maximizes the value from virtual environments."