VMware and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are delivering a joint service that will enable customers to run their vSphere private clouds from VMware alongside their applications in AWS's public cloud.
VMware Cloud on AWS will be delivered, sold and supported by VMware as an on-demand, elastically scalable service running on purpose-built hardware in AWS's data centres.
"VMware Cloud on AWS is a new solution that makes it easy for customers to run VMware workloads on the AWS Cloud," said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware at VMworld in Barcelona this week.
"Customers will be able to use VMware's virtualisation and management software to seamlessly deploy and manage VMware workloads across all of their on-premises and AWS environments."
Gelsinger added that the new offering will allow customers to leverage their existing investments in VMware skill sets and tooling to quickly and seamlessly take advantage of the flexibility and economics of the AWS Cloud. "It is building and enabling the vision of cross-cloud architecture, and aims at providing customers with more choice than ever before. It is a big step forward for VMware and for Amazon."
Mike Clayville, VP Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS, said many customers wanted to leverage the rich set of tools they have in place, and VMware had the best solutions in that area.
"The platform seamlessly runs in the public cloud and, more importantly, can leverage the capabilities of the public cloud. Both the technologies and the skills come together with this partnership, and create a substantial advantage."
VMware Cloud on AWS is a massive deal for Africa, explained Matt Kibby, country manager of VMware SA. "It is essentially the virtualisation of the cloud, an evolution of VMware.
He says the move is part of VMware's strategy - any cloud, any application, any device. AWS is part of that, and is already running production workloads.
"From a technology perspective, for AWS to take NSX on top of their infrastructure, pull a network on top of their network, is a total change from their usual proprietary model," continued Kibby. "It's a big step towards them working with others. It's a big deal for Amazon and for us, and is the next step in terms of what we are taking to market. Our customers asked for more flexibility and we are delivering it."
VMware Cloud on AWS will go live sometime next year, and is the only VMware-delivered, sold and supported service available on a leading public cloud, underpinned by the company's cross-cloud architecture.
The reason for the timeframe, says Kibby, is that drivers for the platform and APIs need to be developed. "The VIP in the room is the application. There's a common maxim that where the application resides doesn't matter. It does. The application needs infrastructure to run. He who keeps the data, wins."
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