Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a market leader in public cloud provision. VMware is less of a household name, but no less influential in the cloud world. It provides market-leading virtualisation software.

Together, they've engineered a cloud service known as VMware Cloud on AWS.

VMware's software stack can be run on any major cloud. But its partnership with AWS is ideal for running, managing, connecting and protecting apps – first and foremost because it leverages AWS's powerful global infrastructure.

It allows enterprises who have already invested in the VMware stack to extend their virtualised data centre to AWS's public cloud – and has therefore been touted as, "the only hybrid cloud solution that allows you to modernise, protect and scale vSphere-based applications leveraging AWS".

It also enables you to unify multi- and hybrid cloud solutions and manage them from a single pane of glass. You're no longer taking care of multiple bits of software. Everything is there in one place.

And because it's unified, it's highly visible. With VMware Cloud on AWS, you know exactly how your resources are being used and exactly where your workloads are deployed.

It's flexible too. You can deploy apps to any cloud without having to go to the effort of re-architecting them. 

The name of the game is simplicity, consistency and availability, with the winning results of lower risks, streamlined operations and a higher ROI.

How the partnership began

Today, VMware is synonymous with virtualised software. But it used to be a provider of both private and public clouds.

Amazon constituted a threat – its globally available public cloud had the potential to significantly reduce the selling power of VMware's virtualisation and private cloud offerings.

So it came as a surprise to both industry analysts and customers when AWS took over VMware's public cloud in mid-2017. The collaboration re-focused VMware's efforts on virtualisation, while Amazon took care of the public cloud and its data centre infrastructure.

The benefits of VMware Cloud on AWS

There are several different benefits of VMware Cloud on AWS, but they all point in one direction: simplicity, consistency and operational excellence.

First, there's its capacity to streamline IT management. We've come a long way from the days when your IT team was installing, maintaining and upgrading multiple point solutions. The trend has been towards unified management – and VMware Cloud on AWS is a success story in this regard.

Different companies deploy different combinations of on-premise, hosted and public clouds. This can lead to cloud sprawl. But with VMware Cloud on AWS, everything is visible from a single pane of glass.

And because it streamlines management, it frees up your team to focus on innovation.

It's flexible and agile, meaning you can run a mixture of workloads. It supports both VMs and containers and allows you to manage them all from a single console. This means your business needs are never constrained by your cloud solution.

It's cost-effective, allowing you to keep your existing software stack and give it wings.

And it allows you to take advantage of AWS's global footprint and availability. You can scale on demand. You can gold-plate your disaster recovery approach. And you can rest assured that your cloud provider takes compliance very, very seriously.

Finally, it's great for developers. AWS provides all sorts of tools for devs – and its infrastructure is both flexible and easy to use.

What are some of its use cases?

VMware Cloud on AWS has a wide range of use cases, all of which can help enterprises take the next step on their digital transformation journey.

Industry analyst John Furrier said it best. "A lot of people said it was a bad deal [when it first came out]… It turned out to be a great deal, because not only could VMware customers actually have a cloud, migrate to the cloud, do it safely… but also position themselves for what's beyond just shifting to the cloud."

Use cases include

• App development.
• Burst capacity – using idle throughput capacity to handle traffic spikes.
• Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) – protecting your virtual machines by partnering VMware's disaster recovery with AWS's.
• Increasing availability. AWS Cloud has a global presence. At the time of writing, it has 99 availability zones in 31 regions, with plans to expand in Canada, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand.
• Simplifying – and speeding up – large-scale migration without having to re-architect or convert workloads.
• Testing.
• Using AWS services to modernise your apps.

What challenges should you keep in mind?

Using VMware Cloud on AWS means increasing your workloads. Before you take the plunge, you need to thoroughly assess your data and apps.

This requires a highly specialised set of skills. It's not something you can pick up in a training session or two. So it can be advisable to approach a cloud consultant for help with both planning and execution.

A cloud consultant will take the long view, creating a plan that considers long-term usage and efficiency.

They'll assess your workloads and your business needs in order to fashion a timeline that leads to the bare minimum of disruption. Often, this will take the form of incremental waves of migration built around your schedules.

They'll help you to estimate costs and identify potential savings. This can be invaluable if you're worried about the initial outlay.

Finally, they'll take care of the red tape: those essential but headache-inducing compliance requirements and licence acquisitions.

In short, it doesn't have to be stressful. Getting a cloud consultant on board takes the sting from the tail of the entire process – from initial assessments to the migration itself.

Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we're VMware cloud experts – and can handle migrations to any VMware-based cloud. Looking for a consultant to help you level up your cloud solution? Get in touch today to get the ball rolling.