VMware is focused on accelerating growth of our subscription and SaaS portfolio as we provide customers the flexibility and choice they seek.
VMware Horizon, our industry-leading virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and apps software, was one of the first products to go SaaS with the release of Horizon Universal Subscription at VMworld 2019. Since then, many Horizon customers have made the move from perpetual to subscription, making VMware’s End-User Computing business a leading driver of the company’s SaaS transformation.
But what about customers who aren’t ready to consume hybrid and multi-cloud use cases, workloads, and SaaS services?
Some competitors in the VDI space have taken a hard line with these organisations, forcing a SaaS offering on them without a plan to ease the transition from a perpetual offering. VMware has taken a more flexible, customer-centric approach. We provide customers choice and flexibility to consume our technology either on-prem and/or on SaaS. And when they are ready to make the move, we help them navigate the transition at their own pace that matches unique requirements.
Today VMware is announcing two new Horizon SaaS and subscription offerings – Horizon Standard Plus Subscription and Enterprise Plus Subscription – to meet customers where they are in their SaaS transformation (read the blog post). With these new editions, customers can deploy VDI and apps on a single private or public vSphere-based cloud while consuming new SaaS services that are being built on the cloud-hosted Horizon Control Plane. SaaS services that can be accessed with these new subscription offerings automate common tasks and optimise Day 2 operations and management of VDI and app environments to reduce IT time and cost.
These offerings provide a steppingstone to hybrid and multi-cloud VDI and apps. Once these customers are ready to unlock additional value from Horizon SaaS services that support multi-cloud workloads or management services, it’s an easy move to Horizon Universal Subscription.
Let’s hear from a customer who has embraced a multi-cloud approach to VDI.
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) provides students a modern learning experience accessible from anywhere on or off campus. To deliver this experience, the college needed to embrace more cloud technology and establish a secure, virtual desktop infrastructure at scale.
Partnering with non-profit technology services provider, NJ Edge, the team rolled out VMware Horizon on VMware Cloud on AWS and onboarded 7,400 students to the new environment. In addition to the solution being less costly to manage, staff and students enjoy greater choice within the learning experience, which was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic and for meeting student expectations into the future.
In reference to the benefits of adopting a cloud-first approach with Horizon Universal Subscription, Leonard Niebo, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology at TCNJ, said, “When it comes to our IT, we can never be too flexible, agile or nimble. The more work we put into that, the more it will pay off in the future. With VMware, we’re ready for anything. We can scale, and with support from both VMware and NJ Edge, nothing is as difficult as it seems.”
"With VMware, we’re ready for anything."
Leonard Niebo, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology at TCNJ
You can read the full customer story here.
Customers are not the only ones thrilled with the flexibility the various Horizon subscription offerings provide. The new subscription options allow VMware partners to better meet their customers’ specific needs. With these options, partners can help customers optimise on-premises deployments with the latest SaaS innovations on the Horizon Control Plane.
Sean Sullivan, Business Development Manager for End User Computing at World Wide Technology (WWT) said, “If there’s one thing that will spook a customer, it’s a lack of choice. The way VMware has structured its subscription models allows for flexibility so we can provide customers with a digital workspace solution that allows them to consume SaaS services in the manner and timeline that makes the most sense for them.”
“If there’s one thing that will spook a customer, it’s a lack of choice.”
Sean Sullivan, Business Development Manager for End User Computing at World Wide Technology (WWT)
In closing, today’s news encapsulates VMware’s SaaS transformation strategy. It’s all about providing a seamless path to multi-cloud on the customer’s terms. A path that unlocks access to the latest cloud-native innovations that simplify current on-premises environment and provides a way to leverage the benefits of cloud now or in the future.