VMware announced that VMware Stage Manager, a product for accelerating and automating the delivery of applications from staging to production, is now available for order. Joining VMware’s suite of management and automation products for the datacenter, VMware Stage Manager automates the process of transitioning application environments in the virtual datacenter through the stages of the release process - from integration to testing to staging and to user acceptance - before being released into production. Now, instead of having to keep track of multiple instances of configurations throughout these stages, IT managers using VMware Stage Manager can automate the application release process so changes and updates are automatically managed and controlled. This simplifies management, minimizes errors, and speeds application delivery.

The release and update process for applications, such as Oracle E-Business or SAP, is highly structured and requires many phases which almost always include integration, testing, staging, user acceptance and production. Traditionally, each phase has required its own infrastructure resulting not only in server sprawl but also in management overhead for repetitive provisioning and testing cycles, slowing application delivery, and increasing the chance for errors. The unavoidable configuration drift in the physical infrastructure during the different pre-production phases introduces risk of unplanned downtime, project delays and cost overruns.

VMware Stage Manager leverages VMware Infrastructure to provide flexible pools of resources for each of the phases of the release process, eliminating server sprawl and simplifying access for the application administrators conducting the testing and staging. Stage Manager simplifies the application release process with the ability to clone a multi-tier production application in minutes, and rather than rebuilding separate configurations manually in each release phase, transition the entire multi-tier application configuration across all phases of the release process seamlessly and efficiently.

Since the public beta for Stage Manager began in January 2008, thousands of beta customers have used the product and achieved great benefits:

“We have very strict IT process and regulatory compliance requirements,” said Tibor Borzak, IT Manager at EPAM Systems, the IT outsourcing provider in Central and Eastern Europe. “Rebuilding multi-tier application environments on the servers and networks associated with each phase of our release process takes several days. VMware Stage Manager allows us to consolidate servers we normally need for pre-production, automate network configuration and quickly move entire application environments into production in compliance with our processes.”

“As applications become more distributed and complex, the process of releasing them into production is much slower, often resulting in project delays and budget overruns,” said Chris Wolf, senior analyst, the Burton Group. “Innovative use of virtualization allows IT organizations to accelerate release processes so that enterprises can be more responsive to changing business conditions while minimizing the risk of failure.”

“VMware infrastructure provides a new and better way to run applications because of the ability to pool server, network and storage resources, and move live virtual machines across physical resources with zero user impact,” said Raghu Raghuram, vice president of products and solutions, VMware. “Now, with VMware Stage Manager, we provide a comprehensive solution utilizing VMware Infrastructure to automate and streamline the staging process for deploying new applications and updates.”

On May 19, 2008, VMware Stage Manager will be available for purchase through VMware’s network of distributors, resellers and OEMs.