VMware (VMW) announced the upcoming release of vSphere 6 during this week’s Partner Exchange 2015 conference, with the latest version of its hybrid cloud virtualization solution. The new version includes more than 650 additional features to improve cloud infrastructures and scale applications for the hybrid cloud. 

The product coincides with this week’s VMware Partner Exchange 2015 in San Francisco, where CEO Pat Gelsinger emphasized the company’s focus on bringing the software-defined data center to a more mainstream audience. The release of vSphere 6 and the accompanying release of vCloud Suite 6, vSphere with Operations Management 6 and Virtual SAN 6 will allow VMware to bolster the company’s efforts to flesh out its hybrid cloud infrastructure capabilities, according to Gelsinger.

“As our customers accelerate growth, their IT organizations are expected to drive transformation, enhance efficiency and bring more value to the business than ever before,” said Ben Fathi, chief technology officer at VMware, in a statement. “We are helping them achieve these goals through continued innovation in VMware vSphere as the platform for their hybrid cloud strategy.”

Straight from the press release, here are some of the flashiest new features in vSphere 6:

Pricing for vSphere 6 begins at $995 per CPU, according to the announcement. The solution as well as the full suite of new vSphere solutions are expected to hit shelves in Q1 2015.

Keep an eye on The VAR Guy this week for more updates from VMware Partner Exchange 2015, and follow Michael Cusanelli on Twitter @MCusanelliSB for additional news.