Converged infrastructure and cloud management provider Egenera is launching the next version of its cloud management software with new features that provide customers with full integration with Amazon (AMZN) Web Services (AWS). In PAN Cloud Director 2.0, Egenera has added AWS EC2 to the software’s self-service portal to enable customers to build IT solutions that span public and private clouds, but can also consist of virtualized and physical servers.

Using PAN Cloud Director, Egenera aims to enable end users to use a hybrid cloud computing environment, and with the addition of support for the most popular public cloud platform, the company has taken a big step in building out its offering. The software gives customers the ability to build, design and manage hybrid cloud environments from a single management interface, something that is going to become even more important as more businesses embrace the cloud.

Until now, PAN Cloud Director has not supported public cloud infrastructure. Egenera promises the addition of AWS is only the first of many public cloud platforms to be supported by its cloud management software. It’s probably easy to guess which public cloud platforms are to follow.

“The cloud is rapidly becoming defined by its ecosystem,” said Dan Busby, vice president of Product Management at Egenera, in a prepared statement. “With so much innovation happening in the Amazon ecosystem and with customers demanding truly hybrid cloud management solutions, the decision to integrate with EC2 was an easy one. Making it simple for organizations to use both private and public cloud resources and to easily manage their hybrid clouds helps to further position Egenera strategically with cloud buyers from the managed services and corporate markets.”

In its announcement, Egenera had the backing of Gartner, which noted that hybrid cloud management capabilities are vital to organizations as they look for ways to offer the best mix of agility and cost-effectiveness.

“Organizations should start their hybrid cloud journey by assessing requirements for what needs to be processed internally and what services can be processed on the outside,” said Donna Scott, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, in a prepared statement. “Choose a cloud management platform (CMP) that enables management of all resources and services, including those operating both internally and externally.”