VMware has made two additions to its vCenter virtual machine management software to include for the first time Chargeback, a basic ingredient of managing a virtualized data center in a more cloud-like fashion, and AppSpeed, a monitor for watching the performance of business critical applications.

vCenter Server is VMware's set of management tools for the ESX Server hypervisor environment. It was formerly known as Virtual Infrastructure 3.

The chargeback function allows IT managers to attach value to various types of virtual servers per hour of use, then bill departments based on usage. Allowing business users to self-provision, one of the leading elements of internal cloud computing, is of limited value if there is no way of charging IT expenses back to the users.

Until now, chargeback has typically been a function added through the lab manager component of a virtualization vendor's product suite. Lab managers let software developers and testers build the virtual environments they need, and pay for them after use.

VMware offers its own Lab Manager product for software developers and testers. But IT managers want to make virtualized resources generally available and have a means of charging for them.

Now VMware has formalized the chargeback function as a separate product in vCenter for business users. It allows administrators to calculate the cost of a particular type of virtual server and assign a value to it. Business users, as they seek resources, can be informed of value as they make selections. That capability allows IT "to have a conversation with business users on the value of the service they're providing," said Melinda Wilken, senior director of product marketing.

Regardless of whether IT prices services aggressively or leniently, both parties want to understand the relative value of what they're doing, she added, and Chargeback gives IT the means to analyze the exchange. A virtual machine running, say, Oracle's Siebel Systems salesforce automation may command more resources and have a higher value than a virtual machine running a small database application.

The part of Chargeback that helps IT assign value to types of virtual machines is wizard-driven. The wizard allows a customer to "create a flexible cost model that can be applied throughout the organization," she said.