VMLogix, which manages VMs, is beta testing LabManager - Cloud Edition, a new hypervisor-agnostic, policy-based product that lets software teams run virtual labs in the cloud, a low-risk environment that will let companies experiment with the platform.

The start-up says it's got the only widgetry to support a public cloud like Amazon EC2. CEO Sameer Dholakia says VMLogix is in discussions with IBM and Sun to support their clouds too and expectations are that by Q4 it will support the hybrid approach, straddling both public and private clouds.

Cloud Edition's features include creating and managing multi-machine configurations combining multiple Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) into a single environment with the ability to automate the deployment and redeployment of multi-machine environments in a self-service fashion.

It comes with user/team management, license management and lease management. Users can share lab artifacts and audit trails and access a centralized repository of software media as well as leverage Amazon's template library.

The five-year-old company expects the software to be generally available in September.

The beta costs nothing but requires a subscription to Amazon Web Services (AWS). When the software is formally introduced, VMLogix expects to price it like Amazon on a per-VM/hour basis.

VMLogix has partnerships with IBM, Citrix, Microsoft and VMware. Its funding comes from Bain Capital Ventures and Trilogy.