Amazon Web Services and VMware are currently in talks to partner on a data center software product, according to a report by The Information.
The two companies are considering jointly developing a software product for use in the data center, anonymous sources have indicated.
While details are unavailable at this point, a move to develop enterprise data center software indicates a move to the private cloud for Amazon, which to date has focused on public cloud offerings.
While refusing to comment directly on the rumored data center software development partnership, VMware cloud VP Mark Lohmeyer told The Information that “there will definitely be opportunities to create more integration points between VMware and AWS over time.”
Should the rumors prove true, a data center software product could disrupt the enterprise data center industry by expanding the AWS customer base to those clients that prefer to maintain private clouds using their own data centers. AWS currently dominates the public cloud market, and VMware is the major provider of software to the private cloud.
The two companies already have a successful partnership under their belts, having worked together to create VMware Cloud on AWS, currently in preview. VMware Cloud on AWS is a vSphere-based cloud service, allowing customers to use VMware’s software-defined data center (SDCC) on the AWS cloud.
Using VMware Cloud on AWS, customers can run applications on any vSphere cloud environment, using VMWare virtualization products customized to run on AWS infrastructure. The goal of this partnership, announced last year, is to help clients to integrate VMware environments with AWS, boosting adoption of both companies’ products and services.
The move to add private cloud capabilities to the Amazon Web Services network may be of more importance following last week’s announcement of the Microsoft Azure Stack. Azure, AWS’s main competitor, is moving into hybrid cloud offerings with the Azure Stack, and AWS could be considering a similar move to diversify offerings for customers and remain competitive.
While the report is as yet unconfirmed by either party, shares of VMware jumped 3% on Monday, on the strength of the rumored development partnership.
