Amazon teams up with VMware for hybrid cloud to rival Microsoft

[SEATTLE] Amazon.com Inc is teaming up with VMware Inc to let customers combine VMware's software for corporate networks with Amazon's internet-based cloud-computing services, a bid by Amazon to better compete with rival Microsoft Corp in hybrid cloud solutions.

VMware will deliver, sell and support a product that lets customers use their existing VMware software with access to Amazon's cloud-based storage, database and analytic software, the companies said Thursday in a statement.

Hybrid solutions allow customers to run applications on their own servers and through various remote cloud-based applications simultaneously.

Called VMware Cloud on AWS, the product will be available in mid-2017. Pricing will be disclosed closer to the release, the companies said.

Amazon is trying to maintain its lead in the cloud-computing market over rivals Microsoft, Alphabet Inc's Google and IBM as more companies transition from using their servers to renting computing power and data space hosted remotely, which they access via the internet. Movie-service Netflix Inc is a prominent example of a web company powered by Amazon Web Services.

VMWare is shifting its cloud strategy to focus on selling products that work with existing leaders, rather than trying to establish itself as an alternative to the Amazons of the world. As more companies run applications on rented servers over the internet, providing services that link the different technologies customers use is a growing opportunity for VMware. The company also has a deal with International Business Machines Corp.

Global public cloud spending is expected to hit US$204 billion this year, up 16.5 per cent from a year ago, according to researcher Gartner Inc.

BLOOMBERG