VMware Cloud on AWS: A Catalyst for IT Modernization
Realizing that they no longer need to be solely reliant on physical data centers, enterprises are accelerating their adoption of cloud-based solutions and native cloud services.
While there might be advantages to keeping your VMware environment in a data center—such as predictable costs and the comfort of a known entity—doing so is highly Capex-intensive, consuming budget that could be used for more-innovative initiatives. Leaving the data center and moving your VMware workloads to the cloud can help provide agility and flexibility in your IT roadmap planning.
For companies using VMware on-premises, the best way to leave the data center behind while minimizing potential business impact is VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC on AWS). VMC on AWS allows you to start migrating non-cloud applications quickly and with very low risk, without moving everything at once or taking systems offline. It’s an opportunity to take a methodical approach to identifying which VMware workloads can become native AWS and which would be better, at least for now, staying on VMware technologies—letting you gain momentum on your cloud journey without over-committing to a long-term transformation.
VMC on AWS has a minimal learning curve for in-house operations staff because, despite being hosted on AWS, it’s still VMware. This enables IT teams to use VMware’s existing suite of server virtualization and management tools, eliminating or significantly reducing the need for retraining and/or up-skilling.
By migrating to VMC on AWS, your applications can take advantage of the latest and greatest hardware without you having to buy it. You’ll see a bump in performance, with lower latency, than if you stayed with VMware in your data center.
Why not just go directly to native AWS?
Even when done correctly, full cloud migrations frequently take 12 months or longer. A migration to VMC on AWS can take as little as eight weeks, enabling you to jump-start your IT modernization journey.
While organizations might be able to move some workloads to a service in the cloud, many still depend on certain legacy systems that simply can’t be modernized or done so cost-effectively. Moving workloads that require significant refactoring or rearchitecting can be time-consuming and costly. In addition, some workloads are stable, and an organization might only plan on running them for the next two or three years. Rather than refactoring and moving those workloads into native AWS, it might make more sense to simply re-platform them into VMC and retire them when they’re no longer needed.
Among the many benefits of VMC on AWS:
- A jump-start to IT modernization. Migrating from on-premises VMware to VMC on AWS can take as little as eight weeks, enabling organizations to jump-start their IT modernization programs and see immediate benefits without having to commit to long-term migrations.
- Consistency and familiarity. VMC on AWS simplifies migration and minimizes the learning curve by letting organizations use the same virtualization technology and management tools they’re familiar with on their on-premises VMware infrastructure—eliminating much of the need for additional training.
- Improved performance. Organizations using VMC on AWS see 83% less unplanned downtime and 27% improved app performance than those using VMware on-premises.1
- Support for legacy applications. VMC on AWS can provide a home for legacy applications that might not be suitable for modern cloud-native architectures and/or that require a virtualized infrastructure.
- Cost-efficiency. Migrating certain workloads from on-premises to VMC on AWS can actually take up to 40% less time—and cost less—than moving them to native cloud services.
- Seamless disaster recovery / business continuity. VMC on AWS provides robust disaster recovery options, ensuring that your applications, workloads and data are resilient and protected against outages and failures with minimal effort. In addition, AWS infrastructure is designed for high availability, which can help ensure business continuity.
VMC on AWS is a stable path toward the cloud that gets the ball rolling for decisions down the road while limiting real-time risks—contact Effectual to accelerate your modernization journey.
1 https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/learn/en/amer/fy21/pdf/691726_ 2020_Business_Value_Running_Applications_VMware_Cloud_AWS_VMware_ Hybrid_Cloud_Environments.pdf
- Author: Effectual
- Categories: Cloud Management, Migration, Modernization
- tags: VMware Cloud on AWS
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