In September 2017, VMware, its rival, launched Azure Migrate, a service that moves VMware workloads in the private cloud to Microsoft's public cloud platform. Although initially opposed to this service, VMware has changed its tone and is now developing support plans with Microsoft.The decision to migrate VMware to Azure occurs when interest in the public cloud continues to grow. Gartner expects revenue from the cloud services market to increase by 18.5 percent in 2017 to $ 260.2 billion from $ 219.6 billion in 2016. As a result, data centers will continue to change as they move forward. that suppliers will develop new ones. products and form new and surprising relationships.
VMware Cloud on AWS reveals new possibilities:
Amazon Web Services continues to be the leading public cloud provider. According to Synergy Research, the company's market share is close to 40%, as well as its next five competitors combined.
In recent years, VMware has worked with AWS to support customers' public cloud needs.
"VMware has been trying to serve business customers who want to bridge the gap between their local [in] solutions and the public cloud infrastructure," said Jay Lyman, senior analyst at 451 Research.
In August 2017, both vendors launched VMware Cloud in AWS, a service that enables organizations to leverage a VMware-defined data center, including vSphere, vSAN, NSX and vCenter management services, on the cloud platform. . AWS public
Like many services in the cloud, it helps companies to provision their IT resources quickly.
"With VMware Cloud in AWS, a company can implement a complete data center in hours," said Marco Alcala, CEO of Alcala Consulting.
Reticence to support the ability to migrate VMware to Azure:
Initially, VMware ignored Microsoft when designing its public cloud strategy, so the announcement of the Redmond, Washington vendor in September attracted a lot of attention. Microsoft has designed Azure Migrate to help organizations migrate workloads from VMware to Azure. This service includes a free tool that accesses system resources, illustrates connections and dependencies, and provides organizations with a migration path.
Azure Migrate includes cost management tools that Microsoft acquired from Cloudyn in June 2017, allowing potential customers to determine whether the transition to Azure is a smart financial decision. If so, a company can migrate the workload to Azure and manage it with the VMware administration tools.
The service attracts companies that run Microsoft software in addition to VMware virtualization services. In some cases, organizations have already moved some apps to Azure.
"The majority of our customers who had Microsoft Exchange at home migrated to Office / 365," said Alcalá, whose company is a business partner of VMware and Microsoft that provides financial services, restaurants, and non-profit organizations in the USA. UU These organizations may want to continue migrating VMware to Azure.
Azure Migrate, which is in preview mode and should be available in general in the first half of 2018, has been controversial. Originally, Microsoft had developed the VMware standalone service, which meant that the vendor would not have to share revenue with VMware if customers chose to migrate their VMware workloads to Azure.
VMware disapproved of what many saw as a hostile move and said that if problems occurred with Azure Migrate software, customers had to turn to Microsoft for help. Azure Migrate "was developed independently of VMware," said Ajay Patel, senior vice president of VMware, in a blog post, "and VMware does not certify or endorse it."
However, faced with the reality that refusing to admit Azure Migrate would result in a loss of potential revenue, VMware has changed position. According to Patel's updated blog, the company is now "in the process of engaging with the partner to ensure compliance and that the appropriate support model is available."
Microsoft's approach to partnerships could also explain the sudden reversion of VMware.
"Microsoft has come a long way in working with other vendors and has taken a more open and less exclusive approach to selling their solutions," said Lyman. "They understand that today's market requires partnerships."
Both vendors are negotiating for an agreement similar to that available with VMware Cloud in AWS; the details should come early in 2018.
