VMware Data Services Manager version 1.5 introduces a number of really cool new features. In particular, it includes the ability to deploy a consolidated environment. A consolidated environment is where the functionality of the provider AND the functionality of an agent reside in the same virtual appliance. Previously, customers had to deploy two appliances, even when consuming resources from the vSphere infrastructure where the provider resided. Note that if you wish to consume resources across different vSphere infrastructures which are remote from where the provider is provisioned, then you will still have to deploy an agent VM. However, in this…