PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - February 09, 2016) - VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, today announced new advancements in VMware Horizon®, the industry-leading digital workspace solution for delivering and managing virtual applications and desktops. VMware Horizon will deliver unparalleled speed in delivering personalized virtual applications and desktops, while offering cloud economics and a new cloud-optimized display protocol. A new hybrid-mode capability will be available in VMware Horizon Air™ to simplify application and desktop delivery by combining the benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and Virtual SAN™ Ready Nodes with a single, cloud-based plane to manage on-premises and cloud deployments. With these advancements, VMware Horizon will offer the industry's most comprehensive application and desktop virtualization portfolio with options for on-premises, off-premises or hybrid deployments.
"We are continuing to drive new innovations and redefine the delivery and management of virtual applications and desktops to a new level of simplicity, speed and affordability," said Sumit Dhawan, senior vice president and general manager, Desktop Products, End-User Computing, VMware. "Increasingly, businesses have a cloud-first mentality and want to deliver anytime, anywhere access to all applications, services and resources across devices. Along with an ecosystem of technology partners that includes Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, HPE, IGEL, NVIDIA and Sphere 3D, among others, VMware Horizon enables a first class digital workspace with the flexibility to choose any delivery model."
VMware Horizon 7 and Horizon Air -- Application and Desktop Virtualization Reimagined
VMware Horizon 7 and VMware Horizon Air will radically transform traditional application and desktop virtualization by using a platform that is ready for hybrid deployments that can support workloads that live in the cloud or on-premises.
New capabilities in VMware Horizon 7 and VMware Horizon Air will include:
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Just in Time Delivery - Built on VMware Instant Clone Technology (formerly Project Fargo), the provisioning of full-featured, personalized digital workspaces will be dramatically accelerated with the ability to provision 2,000 desktops in under 20 minutes while offering the attractive economics of non-persistent, virtual applications and desktops delivered on-demand.1 Desktops will be disposed upon logout with application and OS patches applied between sessions without disruption. Altogether, Just-in-Time Delivery offers enhanced management, maintenance and security.
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Blast Extreme - A new display protocol purpose-built and optimized for mobile cloud networks will offer GPU off-load to increase scale and mobile network support for the broadest range of H.264 capable devices including the industry's lowest cost endpoints. Performance and flexibility will be available with the choice of Blast Extreme or PCoIP, built on a comprehensive suite of user experience features and the widest possible array of client device options.
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Application Lifecycle Management - Included in the solution is the latest VMware App Volumes™ solution. VMware App Volumes 3.0 will deliver a modern approach to application lifecycle management that simplifies the creation, deployment and management of applications. Unlike other technologies that force management of each application layer, this latest release of VMware App Volumes enables lifecycle management at an application level while still delivering the benefits of application layering. It will offer key capabilities around application lifecycle management such as automation, flexible delivery and monitoring, integrated end-user management, and unified administration. Together, they will provide radically faster application delivery, unified application and user environment management, while reducing storage and operational costs by up to 70 percent2 and decrease time spent on managing images by up to 95 percent3.
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Smart Policies (VMware Horizon 7 only) - Organizational IT security will be improved through a real-time, policy-based solution with contextual and role-based management with capabilities such as USB and clipboard control, drive redirection and protocol settings. With Single Sign-On from VMware Identity Manager™ seamlessly integrated, mobile-end users will gain password-free access to a Windows desktop for a consumer simple experience.
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Integration with VMware Workspace ONE - For organizations with the need to manage employees with mobile devices and virtual applications and desktops, VMware Horizon will be integrated and available through VMware Workspace ONE™. VMware Workspace ONE delivers a digital workspace that integrates EMM, VDI and identity management technologies to offer combined benefits on a single mobile platform to enable secure management and delivery of business critical resources to employees for corporate IT, and consumer simple access for end-users.
VMware Horizon Air with Hybrid-Mode (formerly Project Enzo)
VMware Horizon Air with Hybrid-mode will be a new cloud-scale architecture designed to combine the economic benefits of cloud-based VMware virtual application and desktop technology, with the simplicity of hyper-converged infrastructure and Virtual SAN Ready Nodes. It will represent a new approach to building, delivering and managing virtual workspaces -- offering customers the choice of a full cloud-hosted service or hybrid service. It will consist of two main components -- a unified Cloud-Control Plane and Horizon Node technology that works with VMware Horizon Air ready infrastructure.
The Cloud Control Plane is a cloud-based management layer hosted on VMware vCloud® Air™ that will offer IT administrators a single view to manage and deliver new hyper-converged infrastructure and Virtual SAN Ready Nodes. The Horizon Node Technology that resides on hyper-converged infrastructure will be connected, managed and controlled from the Cloud Control Plane and will provide intelligent orchestration, delivery and management of workloads running on the hyper-converged infrastructure appliances and racks.
Benefits of VMware Horizon Air with Hybrid-mode will include:
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Simple Out of the Box Set-Up - VMware Horizon Air enabled hyper-converged appliances will offer plug-and-play simplicity so virtual applications and desktops can be up and running in less than an hour.
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Create and Scale Desktops at Cloud Speed - VMware Instant Clone technology integrated with VMware App Volumes and VMware User Environment Management™ technologies will allow IT administrators to create and scale desktops at cloud speed -- allowing up to 2,000 virtual desktops to be created in under 20 minutes.
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Eliminate Maintenance Windows and Software Updates Seamlessly - Maintenance windows will be eliminated with seamless software updates that can be applied instantly to Windows images and applications. New platform features and enhancements will also be made available for easy updates via the Cloud Control Plane.
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Hybrid Cloud Flexibility - Application and desktop workloads will be able to be moved back and forth from on-premises data centers to the cloud, all managed from a consistent Cloud Control Plane along with the flexibility of using the cloud as a primary use case for everyday work, or secondary use case for desktop bursting or disaster recovery.
"VMware Horizon Air will provide our team with the opportunity to scale desktops on an as needed basis with access to VMware's public cloud in both Europe and the United States," Jason Bullock, executive director of IT global infrastructure & support, BDP International. "Providing this access internationally will enable our employees to execute day to day business and take advantage of all regional internet response time capabilities rather than haul traffic sessions back to the United States. By reducing this time, we expect an uptick in performance and also expect operational users to become more productive and do more for our customers."
Availability and Pricing
VMware Horizon 7 and VMware Horizon Air with Hybrid-mode are expected to be generally available this quarter. VMware Horizon 7 pricing starts at $250 per user for on-premises perpetual licenses. VMware Horizon Air Hybrid-mode cloud subscription pricing starts at $16 per user per month for named users and $26 per user per month for concurrent connections. For more information, contact VMware Sales or a VMware partner.
Join the VMware Online Event: Enabling the Digital Enterprise
VMware will conduct a live webcast on February 9 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific to outline its strategy to help businesses deliver and secure enterprise digital workspaces, share details about the new products and solutions, and showcase technology demonstrations. Register for the webcast here.
Additional Resources
- For information about VMware Workspace ONE also announced today, read the press release here
- Read a blog post by Sumit Dhawan, senior vice president and general manager, desktop products, End-User Computing, VMware on the Digital Workspace
- Read a blog post by Kevin Strohmeyer, senior director, product marketing, workspace services, End-User Computing, VMware on VMware Workspace ONE
- Read a blog post by Tony Paikeday, senior product line manager, End-User Computing, VMware on VMware Horizon 7
- Read a blog post by Josue Fontanez, senior product line manager, End-User Computing, VMware on VMware Horizon Air
- Read a blog post by Harry Labana, vice president of products, End-User Computing, VMware on VMware App Volumes 3.0
- Visit the online press kit for additional resources
- Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
About VMware
VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Built on VMware's industry-leading virtualization technology, our solutions deliver a brave new model of IT that is fluid, instant and more secure. Customers can innovate faster by rapidly developing, automatically delivering and more safely consuming any application. With 2015 revenues of $6.6 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, Horizon, Horizon Air, Virtual SAN, App Volumes, VMware Identity Manager, Workspace ONE, vCloud, vCloud Air, and VMware User Environment Management are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding VMware's Horizon 7, Horizon Air and Horizon Air with Hybrid-mode products, the interoperability of these products with VMware's other products, such as VMware App Volumes 3.0 and VMware Workspace ONE, and the potential benefits of these products to customers.
These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer, government and information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization software and cloud, end user and mobile computing industries, and new product and marketing initiatives by VMware's competitors; (iv) VMware's customers' ability to transition to new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing, desktop virtualization and the software defined data center; (v) factors that affect timing of license revenue recognition such as product announcements and promotions and beta programs; (vi) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vii) changes in the willingness of customers to enter into longer term licensing and support arrangements; (viii) rapid technological changes in the virtualization software and cloud, end user and mobile computing industries; (ix) changes to product and service development timelines; (x) VMware's relationship with EMC Corporation and EMC's ability to control matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of VMware's board members and matters relating to EMC's investment in VMware, and any changes that Dell may implement following the completion of the Dell-EMC merger; (xi) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; (xii) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xiii) the unsuccessful integration of acquired companies and assets into VMware; (xiv) disruptions to VMware's business resulting from the pendency of EMC's acquisition by Dell and the potential for loss of VMware customers due to uncertainty that the Dell-EMC transaction could have on VMware's business;(xv) the potential negative impact on VMware's stock price due to any confusion or uncertainty caused by the VMware tracking stock that is expected to be issued by Dell to EMC stockholders in the transaction; (xvi) disruptions resulting from key management changes; (xvii) pending or future stockholder litigation related to the Dell-EMC transaction; (xviii) VMware's ability to implement workforce reductions and other components of the plan in various geographies; (xix) possible changes in the size and components of the expected restructuring charges and cash expenditures; (xx) fluctuating currency exchange rates; (xxi) fluctuations and volatility in VMware's stock price; (xxii) changes in VMware's financial condition; (xxiii) changes in business opportunities and priorities that could cause VMware to consider alternative uses of cash; (xxiv) fluctuations in the level of cash held in the United States that is available for stock repurchases; and (xxv) changes in the dilutive impact in 2016 of shares issuable through VMware's equity compensation programs. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that VMware may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.
1 Based on VMware testing, May 2015
2 Based on VMware testing, August 2014
3 Based on reported customer results; Mark Slater, Cloud Architect, OGL; June 2015