VMware announced the long anticipated update to its virtual lab automation system, VMware Lab Manager 2.5. The product enables users of VMware Infrastructure 3 to automate the setup, capture, storage and sharing of complex, multi-machine software configurations to help with the delivery of higher quality software by allowing developers to code rather than building and rebuilding development environments. Two lea VMware announced the long anticipated update to its virtual lab automation system, VMware Lab Manager 2.5. The product enables users of VMware Infrastructure 3 to automate the setup, capture, storage and sharing of complex, multi-machine software configurations to help with the delivery of higher quality software by allowing developers to code rather than building and rebuilding development environments.Two leading automated software test automation suites now offer packaged integrations with VMware Lab Manager, further expanding the VMware partner ecosystem and taking test automation to a new level. VMware announced that Borland will integrate UI-level access and control of VMware Lab Manager environments with the release of Borland SilkCentral Test Manager 2007, and Genilogix is releasing the beta version of a new plug-in that integrates HP Quality Center with VMware Lab Manager. Both tools automate the provisioning process by enabling users to easily check out fully provisioned test environments stored in VMware Lab Manager directly from their test management interface. Last month, lab management competitors Surgient and VMLogix also announced new products that integrate with industry recognized testing software. Surgient’s VQMS works with HP’s Quality Center and Mercury products, while VMLogix announced integration with IBM’s Rational Software Delivery Platform and Build Forge. VMware Lab Manager 2.5 offers the following key enhancements designed to provide customers with expanded platform support and further the product’s ease of use: New Library Storage Options: VMware Lab Manager 2.5 adds support for iSCSI and NFS storage for storing virtual machine libraries, in addition to its current support for fibre channel SANs. This provides flexibility for customers by enabling them to use a broader set of storage options tailored to their preferences. Expanded Operating System Support: Customers can create, deploy and manage virtual machine configurations using 64-bit and Virtual SMP guest operating systems. VMware Lab Manager 2.5 also includes new tools support for virtual machines running Solaris 10 x86 and experimental support for virtual machines running Windows Vista. This expanded operating system support enables customers to create an even broader set of virtualized development and test environments to meet their needs. Enhanced Automation Capabilities: VMware Lab Manager 2.5 enables customers to set policies that automatically undeploy and clean up unused virtual machines, freeing up computing resources and helping users complete projects more quickly. Server maintenance is simplified by enabling users to calculate how much disk space can be made available by consolidating or deleting virtual machines, and users can quickly and easily undeploy virtual machines for redeployment on new managed hardware. VMware Lab Manager 2.5 is available now and pricing starts at $15,000. You can also purchase Lab Manager as a bundle with VI3 where pricing starts at $35,000. You can go here for more information about the product. Software Development