VMware Wraps VeloCloud Purchase

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VMware took a big step in its venture into SD-WAN by completing its purchase of VeloCloud Networks.

The virtualization company on Tuesday announced that it has officially brought VeloCloud’s SD-WAN offering into its portfolio. Jeff Jennings, VMware’s senior vice president and general manager of its networking and security business unit, wrote in a blog that the acquisition has closed.

“The acquisition of VeloCloud significantly advances our strategy of enabling customers to run, manage, connect and secure any application on any cloud to any device,” Jennings wrote.

VMware first announced plans to acquire VeloCloud Nov. 2. The integration strategy is to weave VeloCloud’s SD-WAN offering into VMware’s NSX network virtualization and security platform.

“Customers choose NSX because it delivers network and security services closest to the application. By adding VeloCloud’s SD-WAN solutions to our portfolio, we are extending our value in the enterprise and increasing our relevance with service providers by offering end-to-end automation, application continuity and security from data center to cloud edge,” Jennings said. “VeloCloud will bring the same properties to the wide-area network with an SD-WAN solution that provides full visibility, metrics, control and automation of all endpoints, resulting in better performance and availability for enterprise and cloud applications.”

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said last month that VeloCloud’s SD-WAN will help NSX achieve “automated, secure, and infrastructure-independent networking to the WAN.”

VMware’s Pat Gelsinger

VeloCloud, according to many reports, leads the SD-WAN industry in market share. Many analysts saw the acquisition as a move that cemented VMware and Cisco as the top two vendors, but rivals like Aryaka and Silver Peak loom large.

“In the digital era, a new networking approach is required to solve the hyper distribution of applications and data, as we move from a model of data centers to one of centers of data at the edge,” Gelsinger said. “At the heart of VMware’s networking strategy is the belief in delivering pervasive connectivity with embedded security that connects users to applications wherever they may be.”

VeloCloud’s popularity with service providers is another reason why VMware bought it. Our initial analysis of the purchase noted that some of VeloCloud’s service-provider partners have come out in strong support of the NSX solution they’ll be able to use.

VeloCloud CEO Sanjay Uppal says his business looks forward to helping VMware as it moves forward with its networking and network functions virtualization (NFV) goals.

“Enterprises are transforming how they architect and utilize their infrastructure, with a shift toward a cloud-delivered, software-defined model. This enables organizations to have a globally consistent infrastructure regardless of where it is deployed — from the data center and the cloud to the edge,” Uppal said.

It remains to be seen how closely VeloCloud will integrate with the rest of its buyer. Jennings wrote that the SD-WAN offering will be called VMware Cloud-Delivered SD-WAN.