Enterprise cloud software solutions provider Abiquo (News - Alert) has some exciting news to spread at Cloud Computing Expo in Santa Clara, Calif., this week – it has unveiled a major new version of its award-winning software solution that allows customers to build and manage global, robust, fully automated and governed self-service clouds. 

The latest release, Version 2.0, will be demonstrated live at Abiquo’s booth at the ninth International Cloud Computing Expo, which opens today at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

“Abiquo’s version 2.0 represents a clear step forward in Enterprise Cloud technology,” said cloud industry analyst Bernd Herzog of The Virtualization Practice. “We are particularly impressed at the way Abiquo continues to focus on the needs of a broad range of stakeholders, as well as providing new features specifically aimed at achieving cost saving and ROI goals.”

Abiquo officials are touting version 2.0 for being able to offer an unlimited number of pricing models in any international currency and with any combination of individually defined resources, application and standing charges, which can also vary by storage tier and physical data center. Pricing models are used not only for chargeback, but additionally allow users to be fully informed and optionally notified of the exact cost of each virtual appliance before it is deployed, according to company officials. 

Another benefit of version 2.0 is that because of its integration with Opscode Chef, users can individually customize virtual machines at deployment time. Abiquo presents available Chef “recipe” options, and then passes the selected machine configuration to the Chef server for seamless customization to the user’s exact requirements – all from within the Abiquo GUI.

Abiquo 2.0 also adds support for VMware vSphere 5 and Citrix XenServer 6 hypervisors, and vFiler support to the existing NetApp storage integrations.   Cisco (News - Alert) UCS support is extended to include assignment of Service Profile templates to each blade in a UCS chassis, as well as power and location ID functions.

In addition, for those enterprise and MSP customers that want to be able to provide certain users with a simplified deployment portal customized exactly to their needs, they now got their wish as version 2.0 offers a complete portal. The portal relies on the Abiquo API, for self-service creation of virtual enterprises (tenants), virtual datacenters (sub-tenants) and virtual appliances (applications), and is both fully customizable and available in open source code form for “fast-track” implementations. The portal also supports an optional approvals workflow including full email integration for “one-click” management, according to company officials.     

Other advantages of Abiquo 2.0 are that its GUI is now localized in eight international languages “out-of the-box,” including English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Simplified Chinese and Japanese; it boasts infinitely flexible self-service storage options; it includes full integration with the Jaspersoft open source business intelligence platform; and it adds support for VMware vSphere 5 and Citrix XenServer 6 hypervisors, and adds vFiler support to the existing NetApp storage integrations.

This past August, TMCnet had the chance to sit down with Abiquo and hear about its active summer – from tripling its cloud management business in the first half of 2011 to announcing the general availability of Abiquo 1.8 to receiving the Cloud Computing World Series accolade for Best Cloud Management Solution.

And fortunately for service providers, enterprises and developers out there looking for cloud management solutions, Abiquo is showing no signs of slowing down.

“You will continue to see Abiquo add in features again that the customers are asking for,” Wendy Perilli, vice president of global marketing for Abiquo, said of what we can expect from Abiquo for the rest of 2011.

For more on Abiquo, click here.