PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 21, 2014) - VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced the VMware vCloud® Air™ Network to provide greater choice and flexibility to businesses looking to capitalize on the advantages of hybrid cloud. As the world's largest network of validated cloud services based on VMware technologies with more than 3,800 VMware Service Provider partners in more than 100 countries, the VMware vCloud Air Network represents an evolution and expansion of the company's VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP).
The company also announced the rebranding of VMware vCloud® Hybrid Service™ to VMware vCloud Air™. The name change underscores VMware's commitment to deliver value added as a service solutions (e.g. Infrastructure as a Service, Desktop as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service, etc.) to customers on its hybrid cloud platform. Future as a service offerings from VMware will carry the "Air" brand suffix to align with this strategy.
Since its launch in 2013, VMware vCloud Air (previously, VMware vCloud® Hybrid Service) has rapidly expanded its global footprint to provide U.S., European and Asia-Pacific businesses with the fastest path to hybrid cloud. Now with eight data centers in the U.S., U.K. and Japan, VMware recently announced its hybrid cloud expansion in the Asia-Pacific region via a joint venture with SoftBank Telecom Corp. and SoftBank Commerce & Service Corp. (SoftBank C&S) that brought vCloud Air to Japan. VMware also announced a strategic partnership with China Telecom to build a world-class hybrid cloud service in Beijing.
"We continue to see tremendous momentum for VMware vCloud Air as more and more businesses look to capitalize on the undeniable operational and economic benefits of hybrid cloud," said Bill Fathers, executive vice president and general manager, Hybrid Cloud Services Business Unit, VMware. "The VMware vCloud Air Network represents another key element of our cloud strategy -- enabling customer choice and flexibility to find the ideal, local cloud service based on industry leading VMware technology. Our customers can focus their resources on growing their business, knowing that by using VMware vCloud Air or one of our vCloud Air Network partners, their IT team can seamlessly and securely extend their data centers and applications to the cloud."
VMware vCloud Air Network - Validated, Local Cloud Services
The VMware vCloud Air Network supports customers with increased service flexibility, greater options for global cloud services and the choice of local cloud service providers from either VMware vCloud Air or from the ecosystem of VMware vCloud Air Network Service Provider partners.
In the VMware vCloud Air Network, customers can use a new partner badging system to identify and select from VMware vCloud Air or VMware vCloud Air Network Service Providers. Service providers designated as "IaaS Powered" have clouds based on VMware vSphere® as their foundational technology. Partners that are "Hybrid Cloud Powered" have validated their service using VMware vCloud Director® to enable bi-directional workflow between the customer environment and the partner cloud. "Horizon DaaS® Powered" partners have validated clouds to support desktop as a service deployments. VMware will also offer future badge validations to promote additional partner cloud services based future vCloud Air services.
Hybrid Cloud Acceleration with Partners
"Fujitsu welcomes the announcement of the VMware vCloud Air Network," said Akihiro Okada, corporate vice president, Fujitsu Limited. "As a leading global cloud Service Provider, we have been working closely with VMware to provide our customers with best-in-class solutions. By participating in the VMware vCloud Air Network, Fujitsu will increase the number of cloud service options we offer to our customers, and provide optimal solutions, from streamlining customers' business operations to solving their management issues."
"As a Service Provider participating in the VMware vCloud Air Network, NTT Com can provide greater visibility to hybrid solution with our Enterprise Cloud for our multinational enterprise clients," said Akira Arima, president and CEO, NTT Communications. "This enables us to promote our deeper integration with VMware by providing globally consistent cloud service offerings to customers as they move to hybrid cloud environments."
"Based on managing VMware environments at scale for over eight years, Rackspace has become one of the largest VMware Service Providers globally managing over 45,000 virtual machines," said Arrian Mehis, general manager, VMware Cloud Practice at Rackspace. "The vCloud Air Network presents an incredible opportunity for Rackspace to enhance its ability to deliver hybrid cloud solutions and Fanatical Support® to our customers. The new partner network gives us increased access to expert resources that will enable businesses to take the optimal steps in their Managed Cloud journey. We look forward to progressing our relationship with VMware to offer vCloud Air Network services and support to new and existing customers."
Additional VMware vCloud Air Network customer benefits include:
- Multiple compliance certifications, infrastructure and application services in managed and self-service environments as well as vertical market specializations;
- Data sovereignty provided through local VMware vCloud Air datacenters and VMware vCloud Air Network Service Providers;
- A seamless transition from on-premises to the cloud for VMware customers.
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About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
VMware, VMware vCloud, vCloud Air, vSphere and vCloud Hybrid Service are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.