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VMware Outlines Vision for Next Decade of Information Technology

VMware Outlines Vision for Next Decade of Information Technology

IT as a Service Leverages Highly Virtualized Infrastructure, Modern Development Approaches and Anywhere, Anytime Access by End Users to Enable a More Efficient and Business-focused Model for IT   More Than 16,000 VMworld 2010 Attendees Gather to Learn, Share and Demonstrate Virtualization and Hybrid Cloud Computing Best Practices and Technologies That Enable IT as a Service

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30, 2010 — This week at VMworld 2010, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, will announce a broad strategy and set of new and emerging products to help businesses and governments move beyond “IT as a Cost Center” to a more business-centric “IT as a Service” model.  This new model of IT creates improved approaches at each critical layer of a modern IT architecture: infrastructure, applications and end-user access.

“Two years ago VMware set out a vision to modernize the datacenter and transform IT -- this week we are taking significant steps forward to bring this new world of IT as a Service and hybrid cloud computing to reality,” said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware. 

IT as a Service is the transformation of IT to a more business-centric approach, focusing on outcomes such as operational efficiency, competitiveness and rapid response.  This means IT shifts from producing IT services to optimizing production and consumption of those services in ways consistent with business requirements.  This changes the role of IT from a cost center to a center of strategic value.

“VMware’s work in cloud computing will help us reach our strategic vision of using virtualization to improve economics by using resources more efficiently and delivering our products to our customers faster,” said Glenn Harper, vice president and chief infrastructure architect, Sabre Holdings. “VMware’s cloud infrastructure solutions will help us focus on the features our customers need – rather than technologies needed to support IT. We are very excited about the direction VMware is taking with its cloud infrastructure portfolio, making cloud computing a reality for the enterprise and for Sabre.”

Cloud Infrastructure: Optimize Modern Datacenters

Central to the VMware IT as a Service strategy is an infrastructure that will enable IT to fundamentally redefine its relationship with the business. This new infrastructure model will enable IT to produce services in a self-service model, with consistent policies and business contracts aligning resources to business needs. Within this model, the physical boundaries that have governed enterprise IT will erode, establishing logical pools of resources combining those of the enterprise datacenter with those provided by external or public cloud providers, without compromising security or quality of service. For the consumer of IT services, the result will be near infinite resources, on demand, with cost structures and performance levels matched to business priorities.

Unlike previous tectonic shifts in IT that required wholesale replacement of infrastructure hardware and software, the VMware vision for infrastructure is based on extending existing investments in hardware and software, enabling IT to achieve unprecedented results in an evolutionary manner.

Cloud Application Platform: The Modern Approach to Application Development

To ensure that the new generation of applications takes full advantage of virtualized and cloud infrastructure, a new cloud application platform is required. The platform combines an application framework that enhances developer productivity and ensures application portability with comprehensive integrated platform services that speed and optimize deployment. Applications built according to this new model will be portable across heterogeneous cloud environments and, when running on VMware-enabled clouds, will be able to intelligently share information with underlying infrastructure to maximize application performance, quality of service and infrastructure utilization.

End User Computing: Manage Users, Not Devices

A pragmatic approach to the cloud not only transforms the datacenter and development, but also end-user computing. VMware’s user-centric approach to personal computing will ensure secure access to applications and data from any device, where and when a user needs it.  With VMware solutions, IT will gain flexibility in service delivery, improved efficiency and availability while end users gain a superior user experience.

The VMware IT as a Service Strategy
  • Provides a Complete Platform for Cloud Computing: A comprehensive, integrated strategy for infrastructure, application platform and end-user computing that spans private, public and hybrid cloud environments.
  • Supports an Evolutionary Approach: Carries the value of existing applications forward while driving innovations in infrastructure, application platform and end-user computing.
  • Supports an Open Ecosystem: Enterprise computing is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. VMware customers have a choice of infrastructure partners and service providers as well as an open platform that provides application portability and choice of clouds.

“A shift to a services-based relationship and much faster response to demand are two reasons why virtualization fundamentally affects more than IT. Cloud computing is more than an infrastructure change, it is a change in the relationship between IT and the business,” said Thomas Bittman, Gartner. “The decoupling created by virtualization, combined with defined service offerings and automation, is a great enabler of cloud computing.”

VMworld 2010

VMware President and CEO Paul Maritz and CTO and Senior Vice President of Research and Development Steve Herrod will outline VMware’s vision for IT as a Service and demonstrate new virtualization and cloud computing technologies on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 9 a.m. PT during the General Session keynote presentation, which will be available via webcast at: www.vmware.com/go/vmworld-general-sessions.

To register to attend VMworld 2010, please visit: http://www.vmworld.com/

About VMware

VMware delivers virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes.  With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2.9 billion, more than 190,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com


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VMware, VMware vSphere and VMworld are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the the expected transformation of how businesses provide IT, VMware’s vision for a transition to IT as a Service and the role of VMware products and technologies in a transition and its potential benefits to business and and government organizations.  These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer or information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization market, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) our customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and IT-as-a-service, (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (ix) our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; and (x) the successful integration of acquired companies and assets into VMware. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.