VMware, Inc. introduced VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, which will provide simple, more secure and scalable infrastructure delivered as-a-service to customers' on-premises data center and edge locations. Featuring VMware's high-performance compute, storage and networking software powered by VMware vSphere, vSAN and NSX running on Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure, the service will be fully managed by VMware, enabling customers to focus on business innovation and differentiation. VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will be core to the Dell Technologies Cloud Data Center-as-a-Service solution unveiled today at Dell Technologies World 2019.

Modern enterprises rely on hybrid cloud to help accelerate the delivery of innovative services to the business and to ultimately deliver new customer experiences. VMware is investing in solutions that address today's multi-cloud environments as well as advancing hybrid cloud operations from the data center to the cloud to the edge. VMware Cloud on Dell EMC-a cloud service-will combine public cloud simplicity, agility and economics with the security, control and performance of on-premises infrastructure. This unique approach will simplify the customer experience enabling them to quickly consume the service with maximum agility and efficiency.

"Whether they're running infrastructure on-premises or in the cloud, organizations value a cloud operating model," said Mark Lohmeyer, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Platform Business Unit, VMware. "VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will deliver that cloud experience to organizations that need to maintain data and applications on-premises-completely transforming how they acquire, deploy and manage infrastructure. The service will provide consistent infrastructure and operations across cloud, data center and edge, freeing organizations to drive innovation and deliver business value while VMware operates the entire infrastructure end-to-end." 

Delivering Simple, More Secure and Scalable Infrastructure to the Data Center and Edge

Co-engineered and delivered by Dell Technologies, VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will consist of VMware's compute, storage and networking infrastructure software tightly integrated with Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure delivered as a service. Built on VMware Project Dimension technology unveiled at VMworld 2018 US, VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will enable organizations to consume infrastructure in data center and edge environments on-demand like a public cloud service via a hybrid cloud control plane. The control plane will provide administrators with visibility and management of all on-premises systems including monitoring the health of their racks, tracking the steps VMware engineers take to resolve service issues, and automatic patching and upgrading of systems end-to-end. The subscription-based service will offer cloud-like flexible consumption and payment options.

The service will enable organizations to achieve the following benefits:

• Reduced operational complexity: VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will dramatically simplify the end-to-end management of data center and edge infrastructure. The service will include: one-click hardware ordering, initial deployment, automated patching and upgrades of software and hardware, monitoring and remediation as well as providing a global view of infrastructure across all on-premises locations.
  

• Consistent operations and infrastructure across cloud, data center and edge: Offering consistent infrastructure-compute, storage and networking delivered as-a-service-and consistent operations-integrated and unified cloud management-will provide organizations with the highest level of flexibility for where workloads are deployed while extending proven models and established skills for operations, governance and security. Organizations will be able to address: data center and edge location modernization; data latency and sovereignty sensitive workloads; and extend and modernize existing applications by supporting containers and Kubernetes. The service will also link to cloud services offered by cloud providers, while maintaining applications on VMware infrastructure. Organizations will own and be responsible for their data-which always stays on-premises at data center or edge locations.
  

• Accelerated innovation: With VMware operating the entire infrastructure end-to-end, IT organizations will be able to focus on delivering higher level value to the business such as refreshing infrastructure in data center and edge locations in support of traditional and modern applications. The service will further enable IT to offer developers increased freedom to build modern applications that drive the business forward without jeopardizing the operational integrity of those applications or introducing complexity in how those applications are supported.
  

• Built-in enterprise security across the data center and edge locations: Security will be intrinsic to VMware Cloud on Dell EMC with the micro-segmentation capabilities of VMware NSX providing enhanced security for traditional or modern applications while encryption capabilities will better secure data at-rest as well as data in-transit.
  

VMware Cloud on Dell EMC and VMware Cloud Foundation both harness the full power of the VMware Software Defined Data Center, one of the most proven, most widely deployed cloud infrastructures supporting some of the most demanding business critical applications across global data centers. VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will pioneer a new model for IT that delivers VMware's SDDC stack on-premises as-a-service that is managed and updated by VMware. VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail offers the industry's first jointly engineered, hybrid cloud infrastructure stack tightly integrated with VMware's flexible, full stack HCI architecture for the simplest and quickest path to deploy hybrid cloud. It is delivered as an on-premises solution managed by the customer.

Supporting Quotes

"VMware Cloud on Dell EMC will allow us to do more with less. We have multiple locations where we have large data requirements but few personnel resources, which would make it ideal for the cloud. Given the large data requirements, the bandwidth it would require makes it cost prohibitive. This is where VMware Cloud on Dell EMC comes into play. It allows us to treat the compute and storage as cloud resources without the added bandwidth expense. Currently we use an OpEx purchasing model for all of our local compute and storage resources. By utilizing VMware Cloud on Dell EMC we will be able to continue this model while allowing VMware and Dell EMC to manage the end-to-end equipment life cycle for us. This frees up our limited resources to do more value added work for our business units." - Todd Pugh, CIO, SugarCreek

"As businesses accelerate their use of innovative services across the organization, their IT teams must be able to quickly deploy and continuously update resources across shared datacenters as well as a growing range of dedicated cloud platforms in corporate datacenters and critical edge locations. With the introduction of VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, VMware is entering the fast emerging industry for on-premises infrastructure delivered as-a-service. It's enabling CIOs and their IT teams to more effectively take advantage of new technologies and deployment models that allow for the optimal placement workloads while enabling easy access to the latest infrastructure and a consistent operational approach across all environments." - Richard Villars, research vice president, Datacenter and Cloud at IDC

"Dell EMC and VMware have been working together diligently to make this an excellent service for customers, who are looking to streamline their operations, reduce operational complexity and accelerate innovation. With VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, VMware's infrastructure software is integrated with the Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged platform, offering the fastest and simplest way to hybrid clouds and empowering customers to drive any enterprise workload. It's a win-win for IT and line of business owners." - Matt Baker, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Planning, Dell EMC

Product Availability

VMware Cloud on Dell EMC is currently in beta. The offering is expected to become available in the U.S. in the second half of 2019.