While Microsoft and VMware were once fierce rivals in the software business, the two companies are reportedly working together on a cloud partnership that would be beneficial to customers of both businesses.
According to The Information, VMware is exploring a partnership with Microsoft that resembles one it made with AWS several years ago.
Despite the fact that the two companies were once in competition to see who would control the data center during the early days of cloud computing, Microsoft and VMware are reportedly developing software that would make it easier for businesses that built applications based around VMware's virtualization to move their workloads to Microsoft Azure.
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Companies relying on business applications built during the last decade are aware that they will have to modernize their infrastructure but fear that the process of updating their software to run in a modern environment could potentially break these mission-critical applications.
Partners
VMware fought the rise of cloud computing for years before finally giving in with a partnership with AWS back in 2016.
Entering a similar partnership with Microsoft makes a great deal of sense as Azure is now the second-leading cloud computing provider and a potential deal could be great for customers that still prefer a hybrid cloud infrastructure over completely moving their workloads to the cloud.
A partnership between the two companies would also be beneficial for Microsoft as it would help address the looming deadline for Windows Server 2008.
The company will stop supporting Windows Server 2008 in January 2020 but many companies are still running their data centers using the software and a partnership with VMware could help customers planning migration projects over the next year.
Via GeekWire
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