Jumpstart Your VMware Hybrid Cloud

As our customers' cloud strategies stretch from private to public cloud (and back again!), the need for a seamless, consistent hybrid cloud experience is apparent.

A VMware Hybrid Cloud can provide that very experience: extending proven on-prem and private cloud technology into the public cloud with VMware Cloud on AWS.

VMware Cloud (VMC) on AWS delivers a seamless experience between on-prem workloads and public cloud by providing consistency, both functional and operational:

• Functional consistency means that an application runs the same on-prem or in the cloud with no replatforming or rework, because the underlying platform is consistent.
• Operational consistency means your day-to-day technicians, architects and engineers — who may be new to public cloud — have the same experience in the cloud as they do on-prem. With infrastructure built on best of breed VMware solutions, a VMC on AWS deployment means existing tools, processes and skills extend to the cloud.

You've heard us talk a lot about proximity when it comes to cloud deployments, and VMC on AWS is no different. In fact, it takes it a step further by providing infrastructure within AWS's data centers. Quickly migrate your VMware workloads to the cloud, then take advantage of the proximity to AWS native services to modernize your applications.

For more technical detail on the ins and outs of VMC, check out a few demos I recorded on the operating details of VMC on AWS and specifics around migrating workloads and applications: VMware Cloud on AWS Operations Demo and Migrating to VMware Cloud on AWS Demo.

WWT, VMware and AWS in action

Luckily for our customers, we've had great success guiding customers through a wide range of hybrid cloud deployments, with specific use cases like Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), data center evacuation and Cloud onRamp.

Let's consider the example of a recent WWT customer. Like many organizations, they have a pressing desire to move into the public cloud — with an initiative to move 75 percent of their workloads and applications by 2020.

To begin the transformation, the customer invested heavily into a cloud-first mindset and a well architected AWS environment. They realized, however, that most of their business-critical applications were running on VMware.

Between legacy applications and commercial-off-the-shelf tools, replatforming to AWS native was a risky, and costly, direction. To continue their cloud migration, the customer looked to WWT to deliver a VMware Cloud on AWS footprint and an end-to-end VMware Hybrid Cloud.

We are able to accomplish this thanks to a broad range of service offerings we've developed to support the organization's journey to an optimized hybrid cloud. Our services include everything from VMware Hybrid Cloud consulting to full optimization of your environment, and everything in between.

VMware Hybrid Cloud service offerings

• Lab services:VMware Cloud on AWS Sandbox, DRaaS Lab, Workload Migration Lab, AWS Native Service Integration Lab.
• Design/advisory services*: Architecture and design services, readiness assessment, sizing and cost modeling, SDDC operational workshop.
• Technical training: Custom track, on-demand labs, use case specific training, virtual and VODs.
• Integration services*: SDDC deployment, hybrid network integration, DRaaS configuration.
• Migration services: Migration planning, application dependency mapping, workload migration services.
• Native cloud integration services: RDS integration, burstable workloads, application replatforming, hybrid application deployment.

Within this portfolio, we've pinpointed a few services to deliver a "VMware Cloud on AWS Quickstart Service." This engagement combines several of the most commonly requested services into a single offering to kickstart your VMware Hybrid Cloud implementation, typically in about 2 weeks.

*Services associated with WWT's VMware Cloud on AWS Quickstart

VMware Cloud on AWS Quickstart

We'll begin by reviewing and identifying your specific VMware Cloud on AWS objectives, as well as evaluate your current environment structure and needs.

Following this, we'll dive into a complete readiness assessment, ensuring that all aspects of migration have been considered and can be met. This ultimately helps create a detailed implementation strategy that is crucial for a successful deployment.

After defining the scope and outlining implementation guidelines, we can guide you step-by-step in deploying your initial SDDC footprint. This includes connecting to AWS VPC, integrating with on-premises networking, implementing security best practices and migrating your first workload to VMC. All of this involves extensive knowledge transfer so your teams are able to easily manage new workloads and applications.

At the conclusion of this service, you'll have workloads running on a fully functional, consistent hybrid experience with VMware Cloud on AWS. Follow-on services are also available to enable additional services like Hybrid Cloud Extension (HCX) and Site Recovery for DRaaS.

Get started with your move to a VMware Hybrid Cloud today. Feel free to connect with me here, leave a comment below to begin the discussion or schedule a VMware Cloud on AWS lab.