To improve the vCloud service catalog process and help realize vCloud benefits, as many service offerings as possible should be made available directly to the user with automated provisioning.

Typically, in the virtualization world, the initial process for procurement of virtual machines follows the model that is applied to physical infrastructure. Although effective, this is not the most efficient mechanism for providing services, and vCloud benefits cannot be fully realized unless this process is changed. A logical representation of the evolution of the vCloud service catalog from this current state to the desired end state is illustrated in the following figure.

 

In the service catalog current state, when a new service is requested, a service request is raised to select and provision an offering from the service catalog. This request includes not only the utility (vApp or organization virtual datacenter) to be provided to the customer, but the required service level, provided by the virtual datacenter in which the vApp is to be provisioned, and any built-in availability features within the vApp itself. After the service has been ordered, the end customer must wait for staff to fulfill the service request for the virtual machines to provide the service to be provisioned.

To satisfy the self-service, on-demand attribute of vCloud computing, the customer should be able to connect to a portal, select the required service offering, and have it automatically provisioned. This removes the need for the manual task of selecting from the service catalog and also removes delay in the provisioning processes. This process is shown as the vCloud service catalog target state in Figure 9.

VCD provides the ability to manage these requests from the service catalog. For vApps, an organization administrator can determine who within the organization has rights to request and provision vApps, thus providing end-to-end self-service. With VCD, not only can the user select and provision the vApp, but the user can also specify in which organization virtual datacenter it is to be deployed. Because organization virtual datacenters are associated with provider virtual datacenters, the user is in effect selecting the required level of service.