Broadcom and Google Cloud announced plans to support license portability of VMware Cloud Foundation to Google Cloud VMware Engine.

Customers will be able to purchase subscriptions of the new VMware Cloud Foundation software from Broadcom and flexibly use those subscriptions in Google Cloud VMware Engine, as well as their own on-prem data centers. Customers will retain the rights to the software subscription when deploying VMware Cloud Foundation on Google Cloud VMware Engine and have the ability to move their subscription between supported environments as desired.

VMware Cloud Foundation delivers a private cloud infrastructure that is ubiquitous, flexible and integrated across cloud endpoints. VMware customers that have already purchased and begun deploying VMware Cloud Foundation will be able to transfer the remaining value of an existing subscription to Google Cloud VMware Engine. Additionally, customers will be able to move their VMware Cloud Foundation subscription between on-prem and Google Cloud VMware Engine (and vice versa) as their needs and requirements evolve over time. In addition to bringing their own VMware Cloud Foundation licenses to Google Cloud VMware Engine, customers will continue to have the option to purchase a fully-integrated Google Cloud VMware Engine environment inclusive of VMware Cloud Foundation software directly from Google Cloud.

“VMware by Broadcom is adding new levels of flexibility, investment protection and lower TCO for VMware Cloud Foundation with support for license portability,” said Krish Prasad, GM, VMware Cloud Foundation division, Broadcom. “By running VMware Cloud Foundation on Google Cloud VMware Engine, customers benefit from a highly efficient cloud operating model that provides the scale and agility of public cloud with the security and performance of private cloud.”

“As the first public cloud partner to announce plans to support VMware Cloud Foundation license portability , Google Cloud remains committed to improving the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of our customers’ cloud migration and digital transformation initiatives,” said Mark Lohmeyer, VP and GM, Compute and ML Infrastructure at Google Cloud. “Through this model, our customers can realize the unique benefits of Google Cloud VMware Engine, such as four 9’s cluster-level uptime, deeply integrated networking and a unified Google experience along with the full portfolio of Google Cloud services across AI/ML, data analytics, security, and more.”

With VMware Cloud Foundation on Google Cloud VMware Engine, customers will be able to:

- Simplify infrastructure: seamlessly migrate virtual machines and workloads to Google Cloud and deeply integrate with Google's powerful networking architecture.

- Streamline operations: manage cloud-based resources using the same familiar VMware tools and resources, while also accessing native containerized applications; and benefit from a simple and unified Google Cloud experience, with integrated IAM and rapid self-service provisioning.

- Improve economics: increase capacity with lower OPEX by scaling workloads into Google Cloud Platform and paying only for resources as they are utilized and improve TCO by reducing capital equipment expenses and installation costs.

- Unlock insights: convert data into intelligent insights by utilizing Google Cloud services with Google Cloud VMware Engine, such as BigQuery, AI, and Machine Learning (ML) applications.

- Improve reliability and security: leverage industry-leading security with VMware NSX and Google Cloud, including private high-speed networking and dedicated cluster design, and enterprise-grade availability with 99.99% uptime and 100Gbps of dedicated east-west connectivity.

Broadcom and Google Cloud expect VMware Cloud Foundation license portability to Google Cloud VMware Engine to be available publicly in the second quarter of calendar year 2024.