For solution providers that are committed to VMware, the release of the VMware vCloud Connector is a critical new addition to their cloud computing arsenal.

VMware vCloud Connector is a free plug-in for VMware vSphere management console that makes is possible to manage virtual machines on premise and in the cloud. Via a single pane of glass, VMware administrators can now manage virtual machines on their customer’s premise and in the cloud, which will be a critical capability in the development of hybrid cloud computing.

Joe Andrews, director of product marketing for VMware vCloud Services, says VMware vCloud Connector is a complement to vCloud Data Center technologies that reduce “noisy neighbor” issues in the cloud that can sometimes affect performance across a multi-tenant architecture.  That approach helps cloud computing providers to make sure they are running VMware virtual machines in isolation for each individual customer, said Andrews.

VMware Cloud Connector is scheduled to be available before the end of March. VMware has also announced that cloud computing services based on VMware are formally available. The three providers of those services are Blue Lock and Colt, which are in production, and Verizon, which is beta testing its service.

As cloud computing evolves, VMware is expected to leverage its large base of on-premise customers to extend its footprint in public cloud computing services that currently tend to favor the open source Xen virtual machine as an alternative to paying for commercial virtual machine licenses.