Tim Dacombe-Bird, VMware’s New Zealand manager, says the release – ‘the biggest announcement in our history’ – offers an ‘enormous opportunity for the channel’ in opening the doors to a new part of the market. Meanwhile, Michael Warrilow, VMware’s senior manager, products and solutions, APJ, says the new offering will provide performance and scalability and ‘monster size virtual machines’ and enable true cloud computing.Warrilow says the new offering includes ’80 or 90 new core features’, with more than 200 new and enhanced capabilities, including the ability to automatically distribute workloads between virtual servers and an automated deployment system to allow users to control the installation of applications.    Dacombe-Bird says the easier use and enhanced security features will simplify the process of moving business functions to the cloud.He predicts the number of physical servers in New Zealand will be surpassed by virtual machines this year, with over 50% of server workloads running in virtualisation soon. "It’s gone from a technical discussion to a strategic decision.”The launch also sees VMware introduce a new pay model, which has copped flak internationally. The licensing model for vSphere 5 will see customers paying for services by volume of data, rather than by capacity.  Dacombe-Bird says new up-to-date certification for channel partners is available from the partner web.