Essential Guide
Explore the newfound direction of VMware cloud services
VMware hasn't always had an easy time in the cloud realm, but with new multi-cloud platforms, such as VMware Cloud Foundation, and strategic partnerships with the likes of AWS and IBM, it's headed in the right direction.
Introduction
Once the cutting edge of IT, virtualization is now old news, relegated to the shadows by cloud computing. Cognizant of this change in the IT landscape, VMware made a concerted effort to keep up with customer demand and rebrand as a leading public cloud provider with products such as vCloud Air and vCloud Director -- an effort that proved less successful than intended.
From the early days of the vCloud initiative to the Cross-Cloud Architecture and beyond, join us as we track the progression -- as well as the failures and successes -- of VMware cloud services.
1A bit of history-
The early days of VMware cloud services
With its first foray into the cloud market, VMware aimed to go toe to toe with large-scale public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google. This proved to be a difficult task, as enterprise adoption rates for the vCloud Air cloud computing service -- originally known as vCloud Hybrid Service -- remained low, and members of VMware's hybrid cloud strategy team left the company in droves. VCloud Director also failed to make as significant an impression as VMware had hoped, and although the company continues to regularly release new versions of its middleware, it's taken a backseat within VMware's cloud strategy at large. Learn more about where VMware has been, from a cloud perspective, to get a sense of where the company is headed.
VMware shakes things up with vCloud Hybrid Service
After years of delay, VMware finally makes a play for the public cloud with vCloud Hybrid Service. Available to early access customers, this infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offering allows vSphere and vCloud Director shops to extend virtual environments to the public cloud with VMware tools. Continue Reading
VCloud Air relegated to the role of bit player
The buzz around VMware's vCloud Air platform has all but gone silent, and with the debut of Cross-Cloud Architecture and VMware Cloud Foundation at VMworld 2016 U.S., it looks like vCloud Air will continue to take a backseat within VMware's larger cloud computing strategy. Continue Reading
VCloud Air sale opens VMware to new opportunities
In a move to redirect its focus to its ambitious Cross-Cloud Architecture, VMware sells vCloud Air to OVH, Europe's largest cloud provider, hammering the final nail in a product that never really manages to take off. Continue Reading
VMware discontinues vCloud Director for enterprise use
VMware hasn't said goodbye to vCloud Director completely -- it'll continue to maintain a version of its middleware for service providers -- but it has split its intellectual property into new integrations with vCenter and vCloud Automation Center. Continue Reading
VCloud Director split a pain point for some customers
VMware aims to simplify private cloud deployment within an enterprise infrastructure by making vCloud Director a service provider tool and migrating functionality into vCenter Server. For customers who've already adopted vCloud Director, this move comes as less than welcome news. Continue Reading
Questions linger about VMware cloud services after 2016
From new versions of vSphere and vSAN to the Dell-EMC merger, there's no doubt that 2016 is a big year for VMware. However, there are some stumbling blocks, particularly with VMware's cloud services. We ask our panel of experts what they think the coming year has in store for VMware. Continue Reading
2Turning over a new leaf-
Significant changes to VMware's cloud strategy
After a series of setbacks, VMware was forced to reassess its cloud strategy. In 2016, the company revealed its new vision for the cloud with its Cross-Cloud Architecture -- which consists of VMware Cloud Foundation and, as of 2017, Cross-Cloud Services -- its collection of SaaS services with VMware Cloud Services, updates to the vRealize platform and a combination of Photon Platform and vSphere Integrated Containers (VIC). Since then, VMware has made additional efforts to establish itself as a multi-cloud provider to address the growing customer demand for a multi-cloud environment and functionality.
VMware unveils updated cloud strategy at VMworld 2016
VMworld 2016 sets itself apart from previous years' conferences by delineating a clear path for VMware cloud services with the debut of a three-pronged strategy: Cross-Cloud Architecture to extend the private data center into the public cloud; VMware Cloud Foundation to manage a private cloud; and a combination of Photon Platform and VIC for cloud-native strategy. Continue Reading
VMware exec talks future of NSX, hybrid cloud networking
Hybrid cloud networking is set to play a major role in the future of NSX by extending networking and security to a public cloud, says Guido Appenzeller, chief technology strategy officer for the Networking & Security Business Unit at VMware. Continue Reading
VIO and vRealize satisfy open source cloud demands
OpenStack shook up the open source cloud market in 2010, prompting a response from VMware. VMware Integrated OpenStack (VIO) replaces older IaaS offerings and provides a way to flexibly deploy instances. When paired with vRealize Suite, VIO makes it easy to deploy workloads on top of an IaaS cloud. Continue Reading
VMware's hybrid cloud strategy gets a facelift
VMware's previous attempts to parlay its private cloud success into the public cloud sphere have been less than successful, but the company remains hopeful, and with VMware Cloud Foundation, Cross-Cloud Architecture and VMware Cloud on AWS, it might even stand a chance against Azure. Continue Reading
Cross-Cloud Architecture focuses on multi-cloud challenges
VMware Cross-Cloud Architecture allows the customer to run identical VMware environments across the company's cloud partner network to eliminate vendor lock-in and integrates with Software-Defined Data Center (SDCC) Manager, vRealize tools and NSX to streamline multi-cloud management. Continue Reading
VMware aims to bring SaaS capabilities to cloud-native apps
VMware Cloud on AWS might have hogged the spotlight at VMworld 2017, but the new VMware Cloud Services initiative, which will include products such as AppDefense, is yet another confident step from the company in the direction of becoming a cloud service provider. Continue Reading
VMware's next goal: Virtualize the cloud
VMware applies its virtualization talents to the cloud with Cross-Cloud Services, the newest subset of VMware Cross-Cloud Architecture. Cross-Cloud Services aims to break down operational workload siloes by enabling common operations across private and public clouds. Continue Reading
3Stronger together-
VMware makes cloud partnerships a priority
Unable to hold its own against established public cloud vendors, VMware has instead opted to break bread with its competitors in an effort to form mutually beneficial cloud partnerships. By collaborating with AWS, Pivotal Software, IBM, Google and more, VMware is slowly but steadily putting in the work to expand its multi-cloud offerings.
Cloud partnerships and acquisitions on the rise
AWS and VMware's partnership, which brings VMware SDDC to the AWS cloud, is only the beginning of what looks to be a major cloud market trend. Cloud expert David Linthicum and analyst Dana Gardner discuss the momentum behind this trend and what to expect looking forward. Continue Reading
Cautious optimism as VMware shops move workloads to public cloud
Thanks to a partnership fomented in 2016 and a boost from VMware Cloud Foundation, shops can now move their existing VMware environments to IBM's cloud, but some would rather wait and see what VMware has up its sleeve after partnering with AWS. Continue Reading
VMware business model course corrects to cloud
According to analyst Keith Townsend, VMware's business strategy is due for major overhaul, and change is in the wings with VMware Cloud on AWS, a product of the company's recent partnership -- but do other experts agree? Continue Reading
What does the Wavefront acquisition signify for VMware?
VMware Cloud on AWS allows customers to safely try cloud technology from the comfort of their own infrastructure and brings VMware one step closer to becoming the binding cloud force it longs to be. It's just missing one thing: monitoring. That's where Wavefront comes in. Continue Reading
Make sense of VMware Cloud on AWS pricing
After almost a year of waiting, VMware Cloud on AWS is finally here. As details around billing and pricing come into focus, customers would be wise to perform a cost comparison to an on-premises vSphere installation before they commit to a move. Continue Reading
Partnerships help VMware become a connective cloud fabric
The past few years have taught VMware the invaluable lesson that providing and running a public cloud is hard work -- work best left to someone else. Bearing that in mind, VMware's made a concerted effort to establish itself as a management layer across clouds through partnerships with AWS, IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Google. Continue Reading
Industry observers advise VMware Cloud on AWS adopters to take it slow
Although VMware Cloud on AWS has generated substantial interest, beta testers caution that the platform is complex, comes with legacy infrastructure requirements and isn't as tightly integrated as expected. Continue Reading
4Glossary-
Key VMware cloud computing terms
Familiarize yourself with these key cloud computing terms, cloud companies and VMware products to get a sense of the bigger picture.
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