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VMware Advances Networking for the Digital Era with the Virtual Cloud Network

Date : May 1, 2018

Virtual Cloud Network receives broad industry support for delivering an end-to-end software-defined network architecture across the business fabric

VMware NSX networking and security portfolio will deliver consistent, pervasive connectivity and security for traditional and modern apps today across Data Center, Branch, Cloud, and Edge

VMware welcomes industry veteran, Tom Gillis, to lead the Networking and Security Business

LAS VEGAS, May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, today outlined its vision for the future of networking, and unveiled the Virtual Cloud Network. The Virtual Cloud Network will enable organizations to create a digital business fabric for connecting and securing applications, data, and users across the entire network in a hyper-distributed world.

To deliver on this vision, VMware announced the VMware NSX networking and security portfolio to enable consistent, pervasive connectivity and security for apps and data across software-defined data center, branch, cloud, and telco environments. Global leaders in digital transformation and technology innovation demonstrated support for VMware’s vision and NSX portfolio launch (see below).

The NSX portfolio includes investments of resources to deliver new capabilities that include:

  • VMware NSX SD-WAN integration with VMware NSX Data Center and VMware NSX Cloud
  • NSX Cloud support for applications running in Microsoft Azure
  • NSX Data Center support for containerized cloud-native and bare metal applications
  • Telco/NFV and networking performance optimizations for distributed workloads in NSX Data Center

“The future of networking is software, and the network of the future is the Virtual Cloud Network,” said Rajiv Ramaswami, chief operating officer, products and cloud services, VMware. “VMware is helping customers today to build tomorrow’s software-defined Virtual Cloud Networks to connect and secure apps and users. And with the new NSX networking and security portfolio, we are helping customers build a Virtual Cloud Network today through a software-based digital business fabric that is flexible, programmable and inherently more secure network.”

“As enterprises choose to run more applications in public clouds, the parameters of the datacenter are being redrawn. In practical terms, the datacenter – where applications and data reside – is no longer exclusively an on-premises entity,” said Brad Casemore, IDC's Research Vice President, Datacenter Networks, IDC. “It’s now inherently distributed, and that means the networks that support and deliver increasingly critical applications must be similarly transformed. With its vision for the Virtual Cloud Network, VMware is responding to the growing enterprise need for consistent network and security policy that supports applications regardless of where they reside and irrespective of the infrastructure on which they run and the transports that they use.”

Virtual Cloud Network: A New Network Approach for the Next 20 Years
Organizations are embarking on digital transformation to create better experiences for customers, clients, and employees, and drive better business outcomes. These efforts introduce a new level of networking and security complexity as organizations move from centralized data centers, to hyper distributed applications and centers of data at the edge.

The Virtual Cloud Network will enable businesses to connect, better secure, and optimize the delivery of applications and data in an era when a majority of workloads exist outside the data center. With a Virtual Cloud Network, customers will be able to create an end-to-end software-based network architecture that can deliver services to applications and data, wherever they are located. The Virtual Cloud Network will operate at global scale from edge to edge, and deliver consistent, pervasive connectivity and security for apps and data independent of underlying physical infrastructure or location. The Virtual Cloud Network will enable organizations to streamline the journey to digital business, and take full advantage of digital transformation, by unlocking value from today’s current networking technologies and significantly reducing network complexity.

VMware Advances Business Transformation with Networking and Security in Software
The VMware NSX networking and security portfolio provides a common operating environment to connect, secure and operate a Virtual Cloud Network. The portfolio will include new and enhanced capabilities for data center, branch, cloud and telco environments, and will advance support for traditional and modern application frameworks. With the VMware NSX portfolio, customers will be able to manage consistent networking and security across private data centers, AWS, Azure, and IBM Cloud.

  • Network Virtualization: VMware NSX Data Center is the industry’s most widely deployed network virtualization platform for the enterprise data center, adopted by more than 4,500 customers globally. NSX Data Center enables customers to design, build, and operate next-generation policy driven data centers that connect, secure, and automate traditional and modern applications, and help protect applications and data through security that is an intrinsic part of the infrastructure.

    With the latest update, NSX Data Center will include new container and bare metal capabilities that will be able to provide consistent networking services to all applications and deployment models. Container integration rapid-releases will enable global security and more to new app platforms (e.g. PKS). VMware is also adding new accelerated performance optimizations for distributed workloads, which will better support telco/network functions virtualization environments.
  • Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN): VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud is the industry-leading SD-WAN solution that combines the economics and flexibility of the best real-time network overlay with the deployment speed, scale and automation of cloud-delivered services. With NSX SD-WAN, customers can deliver better cloud and application performance with full visibility, metrics, control, and automation of all device and user endpoints, with lower overall costs. NSX SD-WAN integrates with NSX Data Center and NSX Cloud, enabling customers to extend consistent networking and security policies from the data center to the branch to the cloud, while providing operational visibility and control end-to-end. NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud provides an extensible platform for enterprises and telcos to integrate both on-premises and cloud services under the same consistent business policy framework. NSX SD-WAN is available to customers in three ways. Customers can purchase NSX SD-WAN as a service from VMware, or from more than 60 communication service providers worldwide. NSX SD-WAN is also available as an on-premises deployable solution. More than 2,000 customers have adopted NSX SD-WAN to date.
     
  • Multi-Cloud Networking: VMware NSX Cloud provides consistent networking and security for applications running in both private VMware-based data centers and natively in public clouds. NSX Cloud addresses operational challenges inherent with using multiple public clouds, such as inconsistent policies and constructs across clouds; manual operations requiring policy for each cloud, region, and VPC: limited operational visibility into East-West traffic; and operations tools that are specific to each public cloud.

    With the latest release of NSX Cloud, VMware will add new native controls for customers that are using Microsoft Azure as part of their multi-cloud strategy.
  • Hybrid Cloud Connectivity: VMware NSX Hybrid Connect enables customers to solve one of the biggest challenges with hybrid cloud– consistent networking. VMware NSX Hybrid Connect enables customers to create a consistent, highly performant, and more secure software fabric that interconnects data centers and clouds while maintaining the same governance and control. With NSX Hybrid Connect, customers can seamlessly migrate workloads from any VMware environment to a modern software-defined data center environment running anywhere—on-premises, in the public cloud, or operated by a VMware Cloud Provider partner.

Network Operations, Management and Visibility
VMware enables customers to create a complete closed loop, intent-based system that delivers performance feedback through  operational automation with 360-degree visibility, and fast remediation capabilities through proactive and predictive analytics. VMware vRealize Network Insight provides customers full visibility of all components within deployed services across private and public clouds, and virtual and physical environments. The VMware vRealize Suite enables customers to achieve continuous, near real-time data on the health, performance, capacity of network resources, along with prioritized alert notifications for closed-loop integration into resource and service orchestration workflows.

Tom Gillis to Lead the VMware Network and Security Business Unit
VMware today also announced that Tom Gillis, currently the CEO and co-founder of Bracket Computing, will be joining the company as senior vice president and general manager of the Networking and Security Business Unit, effective May 14.

Gillis’ background gives him a keen understanding about the direction of cloud, security, and enterprise computing, making him an ideal leader to drive VMware’s networking and security strategy. Prior to Bracket, Gillis was vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Security Technology Group, leading business units responsible for Cisco’s entire Network and Content Security product portfolio.

VMware Customers Validate Virtual Cloud Network Vision

Alliant Credit Union
“Alliant Credit Union is the seventh largest credit union in the country with more than 335,000 members. We’re heavily focused on the digital shift, because for our customers the branch can be anywhere they can get an internet connection to login via their PC or device. With the VMware NSX portfolio, we have the ability to deliver pervasive, fine grained security for apps and data that extends across our enterprise, down to individual VDI users, and out across the branch and cloud to our end customers. This type of end-to-end secure network architecture with full visibility and insights is quite simply something that could not be done with hardware.” –  Julio Arevalo, Manager of Systems Engineering, Alliant Credit Union

Brooks Brothers
“Digital transformation is becoming an imperative for improving operational efficiencies and delivering a world class user experience to customers in our nearly 500 locations worldwide. We have already experienced the simplicity and performance benefits of a software defined architecture with VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud, and the Virtual Cloud Network would further advance the goal of a complete digital transformation.” – Manny Stergakis, Technical Architect, Brooks Brothers

DXL Group
“A consistent architecture from the data center to the cloud to the edge with a Virtual Cloud Network as envisioned by VMware reflects the needs of the cloud era now and into the future. We chose VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud for its ease of deployment and management, fast turn-up time and lower cost infrastructure at retail branches and now those benefits can be extended across the entire network.” – said Babu Nagappan, Director of Digital Solutions of Destination XL Group, Inc.

Equity Trust
“Equity Trust continues to explore ways in which we can improve our technology platform to achieve an industry-leading experience for our customers. We look to technology partners like VMware to drive innovation and Virtual Cloud Network is a great example of that. We can use this approach to future-proof our infrastructure architecture and achieve the agility and security required to be the best in the business.” – John Moses, Director, Enterprise Technology, Equity Trust

Freeport
“For a company with a global footprint, the agility and flexibility of software-defined network architectures can have a significant impact on efficient and secure connectivity across the enterprise. We have already started on that path with VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud. It has brought greater efficiencies to our operations and better economics. The power of a software-defined WAN was quickly realized throughout our environment and has gone beyond demonstrating the promises of SDN; it has delivered them.” – Stein Ericsson, manager, Global Network Operations, Freeport-McMoRan

Royal College of Nursing
“We at the RCN concentrate on working with technology providers who are consistently driving innovation. We have found that collaboration with VMware over the years, especially with how NSX has enhanced the security and automation capabilities in our SDDC, and more so in the enablement of microsegmentation of our critical workloads and Horizon virtual desktop infrastructure. This new Virtual Cloud Network concept aligns with our views on how infrastructure must deliver services to applications and data, wherever they are located.” – Gareth Lewis, Senior Infrastructure Architect at Royal College of Nursing

W.L. Gore & Associates
“VMware has been a longstanding vendor to help Gore create and manage our SDDC, and most recently NSX became the game-changer by delivering microsegmentation across our global data centers.  We view the concept of Virtual Cloud Network as the next generation of SDDC as it is applicable to how organizations like Gore could securely extend workloads to public cloud and intelligently manage our hundreds of remote locations.” – Chuck Bartenbach, Chief Information Security Officer, W.L. Gore and Associates

VMware Partners Support Industry Shift To Networking’s Software-Defined Future

Accenture
“VMware’s tighter policy integration across SD-WAN and data center networking products puts us one step closer to achieving our vision of seamless, secure, and reliable device-to-cloud networking.” – Larry Socher, managing director, Infrastructure Growth & Strategy at Accenture

Arista Networks
“Arista has a long track record of working closely with VMware to integrate our modern cloud scale networking platform, Arista EOS® (Extensible Operating System), with the industry-leading network virtualization platform, VMware NSX. Our shared vision is well aligned to deliver seamless consistency from client to cloud with ideal software-defined cloud networking solutions for our customers.” – Kenneth Duda, CTO and Senior Vice President, Software Engineering for Arista Networks

Dell EMC
“Service providers and enterprises are modernizing infrastructure, not only in the data center, but out to the network edge, including branch offices. We believe the Virtual Cloud Network delivers an ideal framework for connecting all endpoints across the digital business. We are working closely with VMware to help customers build the Virtual Cloud Network with an underlying, open physical networking layer from Dell EMC to support NSX Data Center and NSX SD-WAN for a complete solution.” – Tom Burns, senior vice president, Networking and Solutions, Dell EMC

Deloitte
“As organizations continue to move to a digital mindset, they will need the ability to quickly deploy and modify products and services to drive value. Unfortunately, they are typically hindered by legacy network infrastructures, which are often based on antiquated protocols and hardware-defined designs. A comprehensive network strategy that incorporates virtual cloud networking— including SD-WAN—into a redesigned network solution can substantially increase capacity, security, and performance while reducing costs. A software-defined architecture can also extend customers’ existing IT investments by modernizing their current network platforms while gaining the software-defined flexibility and agility needed to quickly deploy new services or modify existing ones without full-scale infrastructure changes.” – Bob Black, Principal, Deloitte Cloud Infrastructure and Engineering

Dimension Data
“In a rapidly evolving hybrid IT environment, our clients are looking to transform and automate their networks to drive digital transformation. VMware has been an innovator in virtualization, and is now bringing this pedigree to the network by introducing a single network fabric for a multi cloud environment.  Our strategy is to continue to work with our clients to deliver automated networking and security that will accelerate their digital ambitions and meet their business objectives.” – Rob Lopez, Group Executive, Digital Infrastructure at Dimension Data

IBM Global Technology Services
“As a premier Hybrid/Multi Cloud Service integrator, IBM Services recognizes the important role that software defined networking plays in enterprise transformation. We have been investing with our clients to enable seamless enterprise adoption of VMware NSX, HCX, and SD-WAN solutions as part of our standard systems and network services offerings as they leverage IBM Cloud for VMware solutions portfolio.” – Archana Vemulapalli, General Manager, Network Services, IBM Global Technology Services

Microsoft Corp.
“Microsoft runs one of the largest clouds in the world, which has given us tremendous insight into building and operating global, high performance, highly available, and secure networks to support our customers. We share VMware’s vision of a future enabled by software-defined networks, and are excited to work with them on NSX Cloud to help deliver on that vision. NSX provides a consistent networking and security experience for our mutual customers across applications in their data centers as well as applications running natively in Azure. We look forward to continuing our work with VMware to evolve these capabilities.” – Dr. Albert Greenberg, Corporate Vice President, Azure Networking Development, Microsoft Corp.

Sprint
“Sprint is committed to delivering the best value to customers through our expertise in managed services and outstanding enterprise network visibility in a constantly evolving digital business world. The Virtual Cloud Network furthers the long-term WAN architectural and economic benefits enterprises can derive on top of the VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud solution we are already offering for our enterprise customer branch networks.” – Mike Fitz, vice president of product for Sprint

Telstra
“Software-defined networking and network functions virtualization are a critical enabler in delivering greater network flexibility and agility to our enterprise customers. We’re building a Virtual Cloud Network today enabled by VMware NSX Data Centre and NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud which will  reshape the way our customers evolve their cloud and network environments.” – Jim Fagan, Director of Global Platforms, Telstra

Windstream
“Windstream optimizes and transforms our customers' networks to meet the evolving demands of the cloud with our fully-managed VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud solution. The Virtual Cloud Network has the potential to enable our continued innovation to deliver a complete, seamless and hardware agnostic end to end network solution which extends into the data center, cloud and branch.” – Mike Frane, vice president, product management for Windstream

Additional Resources

About VMware
VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s compute, cloud, mobility, networking and security offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to over 500,000 customers globally, aided by an ecosystem of 75,000 partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, this year VMware celebrates twenty years of breakthrough innovation benefiting business and society. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/company.html.

VMware, NSX, NSX Data Center, NSX SD-WAN, VeloCloud, NSX Cloud, NSX Hybrid Connect, HCX, vRealize, and Network Insight are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Media Contact
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Hill+Knowlton Strategies
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Source: VMware, Inc.