Novell Cloud Manager update targets virtual systems

Novell has updated its Cloud Manager software, making it more suited for use in heterogeneous IT environments such as those using virtual systems.

The latest release of Novell Cloud Manager will let IT users create and manage private clouds, using the hypervisors, operating systems and hardware of their choice, the firm said.

For example, the release includes an iPhone client for mobile access to the cloud. Novell explained that this is an acknowledgement of how important virtualisation and the cloud had become for enterprises, and how difficult it can be to use.

"Enterprise organisations are increasingly making virtualisation and cloud computing a priority, but they need to be able to integrate with and leverage their existing assets," said Jim Ebzery, senior vice president and general manager of security, management and operating platforms at Novell.

"Novell Cloud Manager is the only cloud management solution that allows customers to absorb their existing virtual hosts, along with existing virtual machine guests, into their private clouds, so they can be managed from a single product just like newly provisioned workloads."

Cloud Manager may also appeal to firms unsure about handing over data to the public cloud, according to Novell, and will let them enjoy its benefits without the security and compliance risks.

The updated release includes tools for moving virtual systems to the cloud, and workload management software which Novell said will let users easily add resources to heavily used applications and workloads, or take them away from underused ones.

The firm suggested that this will let enterprises improve performance while lowering costs.