VMware-IBM Cloud Covers Vodafone, Dell EMC, and SAP

IBM dumped a mass of cloud-related announcements today at VMworld Europe 2017 related to the tech giant’s cloud partnership with VMware. This includes a new hybrid cloud service with Vodafone, cloud infrastructure with Dell EMC and SAP, and application portability software with VMware.IBM became the first cloud provider to partner with VMware in February 2016. Today at the VMware show in Barcelona the two companies said more than 1,400 enterprises spanning multiple industries are extending their VMware environments to the IBM Cloud. The partners also named a couple high-profile customers: Honeywell and Vodafone. Late last month VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said his company scored a “huge win” with Vodafone as a new network functions virtualization (NFV) customer. On an earnings conference call, Gelsinger described it as “our largest-ever telco deal” and “a huge step forward in our NFV initiative.” However, the companies have yet to provide additional details about the deal.Honeywell today said it used VMware workloads running in the IBM Cloud to develop industrial automation technologies including a platform that enables users to build and test engineering processes.And in addition to running its own VMware workloads in the IBM Cloud, Vodafone today said it’s offering a hybrid cloud service that allows enterprises to move their VMware workloads between Vodafone-hosted private clouds and IBM’s cloud. “The end state for most enterprises is going to be hybrid or multi-cloud,” said Don Boulia, IBM’s GM of Cloud Developer Services. “This connection allows them to transition workloads to a cloud-based environment using a combination of the VMware toolset and the offerings we [IBM and Vodafone] have in our areas.”It also gives Vodafone customers access to IBM services including Watson and its analytic capabilities.