VMware Ready Data Protection Solutions Will Extend VMware vSphere 4 to Deliver Seamless Datacenter Operations and Recovery Processes for Customers Using Data Protection Solutions from VMware Partners.

VMware, provider in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter and to the cloud, today announced the expansion of its VMware Ready program to partners that provide data protection solutions for VMware vSphere 4. VMware vSphere 4, which is now generally available, helps customers transform IT into a dynamic, flexible service while dramatically lowering costs.

As part of the VMware Ready Data Protection program, participating partners will get full access to a rich set of functionality and integration interfaces to make their solutions “VMware Ready Optimized” for VMware vSphere 4, as well as receive best practices and use of the VMware Ready Optimized logo. VMware Ready Optimized solutions will accelerate implementation of qualified data protection solutions to help customers reduce IT expenses as they move toward cloud computing.

The VMware Ready Data Protection program enables partners to integrate new and existing solutions with VMware vSphere 4 using certain VMware vStorage APIs and integration technologies that simplify protection of virtualized workloads. The program adds qualification criteria for data protection products to help validate that partner solutions have passed VMware-specified integration or interoperability criteria and are technically ready for optimal use with VMware vSphere 4. Key data protection vendors are expected to validate their products for VMware vSphere 4 including CA, CommVault, EMC, Symantec and Vizioncore.

The VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection included in VMware vSphere 4 are the enabling framework for data protection partners to develop integrated solutions for centralized virtual machine backup. This enables customers to perform rapid backup without disrupting applications or the end user experience. VMware will continue to support existing implementations of the previous generation of its data protection framework (called VMware Consolidated Backup) as well as a non-disruptive upgrade to the new VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection.

“Customers have told us that business continuity, disaster recovery, and especially data protection are top of mind, particularly as we look to the future where IT decision makers are continually asked to do more with less,” said Parag Patel, vice president, alliances, VMware. “VMware Ready Optimized data protection solutions will be validated for production datacenter use, helping to lay the foundation for cloud computing and assure customers that their mission-critical data is protected through a validated end-to-end solution.”

As part of the program, VMware will recommend solutions for essential data protection processes such as backup and restore that are VMware Ready Optimized–meaning these solutions adhere to more stringent integration guidelines and pass a technical validation. Partner products passing this qualification will be allowed to use the VMware Ready Optimized logo, where “Optimized” signifies that the qualifying products provide optimized levels of integration, functionality, or performance. Qualified partners in the program will have access to VMware technologies to develop and deliver solutions that interoperate with and are optimized for VMware vSphere 4. VMware Ready Optimized data protection solutions will also be featured as “VMware Ready” in the VMware Partner Product Catalog.