VMware today announced the general availability of its Lifecycle Manager tool, which provides users with cradle-to-grave control over the deployment of virtual machines.

Datacentre managers can use Lifecycle Manager to get a granular view of virtual machine deployments, improving their ability charge business units for the use of virtual environments. The tool provides insight into who commissioned, approved and owns virtual machines and shows how long they have been in use.

“VMware Lifecycle Manager allows customers to fully automate the provisioning, charging back and decommissioning of virtual machines,” said Raghu Raghuram, vice president of products and solutions at VMware

The tools automates the process of requesting the set-up of a virtual machine, getting approval and finally deploying it.

By automating many of the repetitive and manual tasks necessary to deploy virtual machines, the tool can reduce errors and enforce IT policies and standards, the company said.