Broadcom and Dell Reunite, Virtuozzo Targets Unhappy VMware Users

Broadcom has inked new VMware-related OEM agreements with Dell, HPE and Lenovo.

The deals call for the companies to build solutions on top of VMware Cloud Foundation.

That Dell is back on board comes of interest. Earlier this year, the company nixed its distribution contract with VMware. Now, though, Dell has reversed course.

“The new agreement builds on Dell and VMware's 20-plus year relationship and enables the companies to continue delivering co-engineered solutions that help organizations embrace modern applications at cloud scale and optimize their data centers,” Dell said.

Ricky Cooper, vice president of OEM sales at Broadcom, wrote in a June 10 blog that more such partnerships (dubbed “value-add OEM” arrangements) are on the way. 

“Broadcom recognizes that [these] partners play a critical role in developing and delivering co-engineered offerings, integrating VMware software with their differentiated capabilities, and delivering a seamless, unified solution and experience to our shared customers,” Cooper wrote. 

Dell, HPE and Lenovo, he added, “will drive a consistent VCF experience for our mutual customers through unique co-engineered offerings that are partner-branded, sold and supported.”

Cooper noted that since Broadcom simplified the VMware portfolio last December, all VMware “core technologies” are now integrated into VCF.

“As a result, we can deliver innovation faster through the integration of VCF with our [OEM] partners' unique hardware systems, software and services, providing truly differentiated, turnkey private cloud solutions,” Cooper said.

Despite Broadcom’s attempts to ease buyers’ and partners’ minds around the decisions it has made since buying VMware, some rivals continue trying to lure those end users and channel experts. 

Indie cloud provider Virtuozzo is the latest, touting its new distribution deal with Robson Communications.

Robson sells to managed service providers. The new arrangement with Virtuozzo means the cloud infrastructure and services specialist now also offers Virtuozzo’s VMware-alternative platform. The companies are betting that businesses fed up with Broadcom’s changes to VMware’s bundling, licensing and partnership structures will be drawn to their joint solutions.

Here’s what they have in mind: Robson will distribute Virtuozzo’s OpenStack-based cloud solutions for on-premises deployment. That applies to customers operating their own data center infrastructure and those using Robson’s data centers. It also offers hosted versions. From there, Robson, with the aid of its MSPs, will deliver consulting, design and migration services as end users move from VMware to Virtuozzo.

"With a majority of the world's virtualization based on VMware in one way or another, the situation is extremely concerning for companies across the channel,” said Mark Taylor, president of Robson. “Robson is here to ensure that nothing will disrupt our customers’ businesses. … Virtuozzo’s partnership model, licensing and solutions are the perfect fit, and after the shockwave of the Broadcom acquisition, we’re now excited about the future of cloud.”

Virtuozzo's Alex Fine

Alex Fine, CEO of Virtuozzo, agreed.

“Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has spurred companies to seek cloud partners and platforms that are more flexible, affordable and inclusive,” Fine said. “The VMware situation has been a massive wake-up call for the industry, and Virtuozzo offers a solution that’s designed to enable, not hinder, growth.”

AWS just added two more certifications to its arsenal.

The Certified AI Practitioner targets people from a range of backgrounds, with a range of experiences. It’s a foundation-level curriculum. Earning the certification is intended to show understanding of AI and generative AI concepts, as well as ability to recognize opportunities where AI can play a role and underscore responsible AI use.

The Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate takes aim at people with at least one year of experience building, deploying and maintaining AI and ML solutions on AWS.

AWS said that, according to an unnamed study it commissioned, organizations pay higher salaries to professionals with AI skills.

The beta exams for both certifications will be available on Aug. 13.

SentinelOne just debuted what it’s calling Singularity Cloud Workload Security for Serverless Containers.

The platform provides real-time, AI-powered protection for containerized workloads on AWS Fargate for Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS. It uses five autonomous detection engines to spot threats including ransomware, zero-days and fileless exploits. From there, it pushes response actions. 

SentinelOne, which sells through the channel, said its new solution protects AWS customers’ containerized workloads however they are launched — whether ephemeral or permanent. The latter are short-lived, maybe even down to just a few minutes. But, SentinelOne says, that doesn’t mean attackers can’t find and compromise those workloads, while also identifying higher-value resources before the ephemeral ones are deleted.

Bad actors also look for serverless containers so they can effect attacks such as crypto-mining, per SentinelOne.

The release comes as AWS holds its annual security event, re:Inforce, this week in Philadelphia. 

NetApp, which is amping up its cloud computing capabilities, has hired Mike Sakalas to push more sales.

Sakalas is taking on the title of vice president of U.S. enterprise sales. He’ll report to the senior vice president of North America sales, Riccardo Di Blasio. 

Sakalas oversaw sales at Pure Storage before accepting the NetApp position. He also has worked for EMC.

“I have no doubt that Mike’s leadership will contribute significantly to our continued success in North America,” Di Blasio said.

NetApp, which is amping up its cloud computing capabilities, has hired Mike Sakalas to push more sales.

Sakalas is taking on the title of vice president of U.S. enterprise sales. He’ll report to the senior vice president of North America sales, Riccardo Di Blasio. 

Sakalas oversaw sales at Pure Storage before accepting the NetApp position. He also has worked for EMC.

“I have no doubt that Mike’s leadership will contribute significantly to our continued success in North America,” Di Blasio said.