rPath® today announced that virtual appliances designed for the VMware Ready^TM Virtual Appliance Program can be developed using rBuilder® and the rPath Lifecycle Management Platform®. In addition, application providers will be able to leverage SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell when building VMware Ready virtual appliances using rPath’s technology platform. The VMware Ready Virtual Appliance Program is an ecosystem initiative that enables customers to identify virtual appliances that follow best practices and are optimized for VMware Infrastructure. By purchasing a VMware Ready Virtual Appliance, customers know they are obtaining a solution that is reliable, secure and ready-to-run in production.

A virtual appliance is an application combined with Just enough Operating System (JeOS) to run optimally in any virtualized environment. Virtual appliances eliminate the time-consuming task of installing, configuring, and maintaining complex application environments. rPath's rBuilder® and the rPath Lifecycle Management Platform® are the first technology solutions for creating and managing application images that can be delivered to customers as appliances or on-demand applications running in a compute cloud.

"The VMware Ready Program enables software developers to provide customers with a better user experience and offer quality assurance,” said William Shelton, Director of Emerging Products and Solutions at VMware. “By clearly communicating that virtual appliances have been validated as VMware Ready, we are letting customers know they are obtaining a solution that is reliable, secure, and ready to run in the VMware environment."

The VMware Ready Program offers the following benefits:

• Virtual appliances that have been tested and validated as VMware Ready are ready to run in a production environment and are optimized to run on VMware Infrastructure.
• VMware Ready Virtual Appliances are maintained according to best practices and are designed for an excellent customer experience.
• The VMware Ready logo is a symbol of trust, assuring customers that VMware Ready virtual appliances are of exceptional quality.

"Virtual appliances are a key packaging method for the future of software delivery," said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions at Novell. "When you build a VMware Ready virtual appliance with SUSE Linux Enterprise, you are assured that your appliance can take full advantage of the VMware environment, regardless of how the appliance was built. Customers who deploy SUSE Linux Enterprise in VMware Ready virtual appliances can realize the benefits of simplified deployment, easier management, and greater security."

“VMware’s commitment to virtual appliances as a critical software delivery mechanism for virtualized infrastructure is a critical step to wider industry adoption,” said Billy Marshall, CEO of rPath. “As VMware customers continue to embrace this method for deploying their applications, rPath is poised to support this growth by empowering application providers to seamlessly build and maintain their VMware Ready solutions.”