Amazon buckles: Broadcom's VCF now with AWS after all
AWS is now the last major cloud provider to offer VMware Cloud Foundation. Broadcom had previously trimmed the VMware Cloud on AWS.
(Image: Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov)
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is coming to the Amazon cloud: AWS is the latest major provider to follow suit and now offers Broadcom's virtualization package as a native service under the name Elastic VMware Service (EVS). This follows a lengthy dispute with the new owner over the existing VMware Cloud on AWS. However, the latter is incompatible with VCF, so customers cannot, for example, – move their licenses and virtualized services between cloud providers and their own data center as they wish, unlike the new EVS –.
VMware Cloud on AWS is a formerly central component of the virtualization provider: VMware provided the management of the service, while Amazon was responsible for hosting. At the same time, AWS was able to resell the service, but Broadcom stopped this after the takeover in order to subsequently distribute VMware Cloud on AWS as the sole provider. This is also associated with a subscription for customers. At the same time, Amazon expanded its migration offerings for VMware alternatives, while Microsoft and Google as well as many smaller cloud providers gradually opted for VCF.
AWS: VMware services need to modernize users anyway
AWS does not provide any information on the reasons for the current change of course in the brief announcement. Instead, the provider emphasizes the known advantages such as license portability and compatibility of the virtualized services. However, Amazon cannot resist one last side blow: The provider wants to offer EVS customers native AWS services with which they can modernize their VMware-based services. Nevertheless, Broadcom should also benefit from EVS, as VCF has now established itself as the standard for all key cloud providers. What this means for the future of VMware Cloud on AWS, however, remains to be seen.
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An initial preview of EVS will be available at the AWS in-house exhibition re:Invent 2024, which will take place in Las Vegas from December 2 to 6. Further details and the full announcement of the Elastic VMware Service can be found on the AWS blog.
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