Microsoft and Broadcom are expanding their partnership, unveiling plans to support VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) subscriptions on Azure VMware Solution.
Customers that own or purchase licenses for VMware Cloud Foundation will be able to use those licenses on Azure VMware Solution, as well as their own data centers, giving them flexibility to meet changing business needs, according to Microsoft and Broadcom.
This provides an additional purchase option for Azure VMware Solution, which has been sold and operated by Microsoft since 2019.
Customers can currently purchase the solution with VMware licenses included, and this option will continue to be available for customers that prefer to purchase their VMware licenses as part of their solution from Microsoft.
Azure VMware Solution delivers a fully managed VMware environment that is operated and supported by Microsoft. Customers can move VMware workloads to Azure “as is” with minimal to no refactoring. This streamlines migration and allows customers to continue using familiar skills while learning new Azure skills.
By migrating to Azure VMware Solution, now available in 33 regions around the world, organizations can take advantage of Azure’s scalable and high-performance cloud infrastructure. Customers can deploy business-critical capabilities such as backup, high availability, threat protection, and performance monitoring.
VMware Cloud Foundation delivers a private cloud platform that is ubiquitous, flexible, and integrated across cloud endpoints. By deploying VMware Cloud Foundation on Azure, customers benefit from a highly optimized cloud operating model that provides the scale and agility of public cloud with the security and performance of private cloud.
With improved license portability for customers with eligible VMware Cloud Foundation entitlements, customers will be able to purchase subscriptions of the new VMware Cloud Foundation software and have complete mobility to and from their on-premises environment to Azure VMware Solution.
Additionally, customers will be able to move their VMware Cloud Foundation subscription between on-prem and Azure VMware Solution as their needs and requirements evolve over time. Customers will retain the rights to their software subscription when moving their VMware Cloud Foundation subscription to Azure VMware Solution.
In addition to the new VMware license portability benefit, the VMware Rapid Migration Plan provides an additional and comprehensive set of licensing benefits and programs to reduce the cost and time it takes for organizations to migrate to Azure VMware Solution.
The plan includes:
- Price protection. With Reserved Instances, customers can lock in pricing for one, three, or five years.
- Savings for Windows Server and SQL Server. Windows Server and SQL Server are common workloads on VMware environments. With Software Assurance for on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses, organizations can qualify for the Azure Hybrid Benefit discount to use existing Windows Server and SQL Server licenses in Azure VMware Solution. Free Extended Security Updates are available for older versions that face end of life.
- Migration support. Customers can use Azure Migrate and Modernize to get resources, expert help, and funding from Microsoft and its partner ecosystem.
- Azure credits. Customers that purchase a new Reserved Instance for Azure VMware Solution can get additional Azure credits valid for Azure VMware Solution or other Azure services.
For more information about this news, visit www.vmware.com.