VMware VCLOUD REQUEST MANAGER Datasheet

D AT A S H E E T / 1

D AT A S H E E T

AT A G L A N CE

VMware vCloud™ Request Manager enhances
governance and control of private cloud
infrastructures based on VMware vCloud
Director. VMware vCloud Request Manager adds
sophisticated approval workflows to provisioning
requests, automatically tracks software license
usage, and enforces standardized settings on
cloud partitions. The result is an out-of-the-box
solution that enterprises can use to enable rapid
provisioning of private cloud resources with
confidence and control.

KE Y B E N E FI T S

•Avoidvirtualmachinesprawlbyenforcing

business policies and procedures.

•Maximizeeciencyandservicedeliveryby

automating provisioning processes.

•Simplifytheexperienceforconsumersof
cloud-based services.

•Minimizeprivateclouddeploymentand

administration costs.

VMware vCloud Request Manager

Deploy Private Clouds with Confidence and Control

What is VMware vCloud
Request Manager?

VMware vCloud Request Manager is an add-on for VMware
vCloud Director (licensed separately) that enhances
governance and control for private cloud infrastructures.

VMware vCloud Request Manager gives cloud administrators
the ability to govern the request and approval processes that
underpin the provisioning of vApps, and to ensure that cloud
partitions (known as organizations in VMware vCloud Director)
adhere to standard policies. The solution also provides a unified
experience for private cloud consumers and dramatically
simplifies the process of requesting new cloud resources
and vApps.

How Does VMware vCloud
Request Manager Work?

VMware vCloud Request Manager provides a request portal
and workflow engine that communicates with VMware vCloud
Director through the VMware vCloud API.

Consumers of cloud resources (cloud consumers) can create
their own organizations and provision new vApps using the
browser-based portal to initiate requests. They receive emailed
notifications of the results of these requests and emailed
approvals that require their action.

Cloud administrators define provisioning approval processes
using the graphical workflow modeler and associate software
licenses with vApp templates. They can also define blueprints
to ensure each organization adheres to specified policies and
resources limits.

The actual provisioning takes place through VMware vCloud
Director, driven by the VMware vCloud API. VMware vCloud
Request Manager can support multiple private clouds, and can
be extended to public clouds in support of hybrid cloud strategies.

How is VMware vCloud
Request Manager Used?

•Streamline provisioning – Add sophisticated, transparent
approval workflows to provisioning requests for cloud
resources and vApps.

VMware v Cloud Re quest M anag er provid es a unifi ed exper ience fo r consum ing IT
resour ces in priv ate cloud i nfras tructu res.

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Software License Management

Cloud administrators and asset managers can associate third­party software licenses with each vApp template. Once this is
done, the provisioning workflow will automatically allocate the
appropriate licenses when new vApps are provisioned based
on that template—and it won’t allow a request to proceed if
there are no licenses available.

VMware vCloud Request Manager also detects when a vApp is
deleted, either automatically through the expiration of its lease or
manually from the VMware vCloud Director console, and will free
up the associated licenses for re-use. By automating the tracking
of software license, VMware vCloud Request Manager helps
ensure compliance with third-party software license agreements.

Email Notifications

Approval and success notifications are sent via email with
contextually relevant information such as links to provisioned
vApps and comments from approvers. This keeps cloud
consumers informed in an increasingly mobile workforce,
and enables managers to respond to approval requests
directly from their handheld devices.

Blueprints

Cloud administrators can use VMware vCloud Request
Manager to define blueprints that encapsulate settings such as
virtual machine quotas, cost allocation models, default leases,
and settings for computing, networking and storage resources,
which are then assigned to organizations. The use of blueprints
helps to simplify cloud administration and streamline the
request submission process by enforcing standardization
for each organization to reduce variations.

Rapid Deployment

VMware vCloud Request Manager comes preconfigured
with provisioning workflows and email templates, providing
enhanced compliance and control for private clouds with
minimal configuration. This not only helps enterprises deploy
private clouds quickly, but also eliminates the cost and risk
associated custom software development.

Find Out More

For information or to purchase VMware products,
call 877-4-VMWARE, visit www.vmware.com, or search
online for an authorized reseller. For detailed specifications
and requirements, refer to the VMware vCloud Request
Manager documentation.

•Software license tracking – Automatically track and control
software license usage for vApps as they are commissioned
and decommissioned.

•Policy-based cloud partitioning – Create blueprints that
encapsulate standard organization settings to simplify cloud
administration and streamline the request submission
process for cloud consumers.

Key Features

Cloud Consumer Provisioning Portal

With VMware vCloud Request Manager, cloud consumers get
a simple, modern, browser-based portal for requesting new
vApps and resources. This portal provides a rich user experience
that drives adoption and satisfaction, and it works seamlessly
across the many Web browsers and endpoint devices being
used in the enterprise.

Workflow Automation

The graphical workflow designer lets cloud administrators
model sophisticated processes for approvals, software license
allocation, provisioning, and email notifications. This includes
the ability to send approvals to multiple recipients, or even to
dynamically determined approvers.

Workflow automation enables customers to maximize
eciency through the elimination of costly and error-prone
manual tasks. It also optimizes service delivery by minimizing
the time to provision infrastructure, and enforces and audits
best practices.

VMware vCloud Request Manager

VMware v Cloud Re quest M anag er adds s ophist icated wo rkflow a utomati on to
existin g provisio ning pro cesses .