Rackspace Technology rolled its Cloud platform onto Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 platform, tying the managed and multitenant cloud offering to one of the market’s most talked about enterprise private cloud offerings.
The integration includes elastic consumption on pre-staged infrastructure; integrated support for virtual machines (VMs) and Kubernetes-orchestrated container workloads on a single platform; and “enterprise-grade” isolation, security, and governance controls. Rackspace notes that these features simplify VMware operations, speed deployments, and reduce the need for customers to buy hardware and maintain data center infrastructure.
The move initially extends the Rackspace Cloud to VCF 9.1 in the Dallas area with plans to expand availability to North Virginia and the Chicago area.
“The same governed platform that powers an enterprise’s VMware environment today provides the flexibility to support Kubernetes and AI inference workloads as business needs evolve, all while maintaining consistent governance and control,” Bryan Litchford, head of product, engineering, and data centers at Rackspace, explained of the latest integration. “With capacity staged in advance, automated life cycle management, and enterprise-grade VMware capabilities delivered through a fully managed service, customers scale in hours, not procurement cycles.”
Broadcom is also on board with the move as evidenced by Ricky Cooper, VP of global cloud service providers and OEMs at the company, adding that the integration “gives customers a managed path to cloud agility.”
"Together, we are helping enterprises scale their modern private clouds cost-effectively, operate securely, and innovate rapidly,” Cooper added.
Rackspace unveiled its Managed Cloud platform in late 2023, and has since rolled out a handful of updates, including a central toolset aimed at helping users manage IT infrastructure across hybrid and multicloud environments and more recent AI-infused enhancements.
Rackspace part of Broadcom’s VMware partner focus #
Rackspace also operates as a Broadcom Advantage and VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) partner licensed to deliver VCF-based managed cloud services. Broadcom has leaned heavily on that partner group to expand the reach of its VCF platform, which has a specific focus on private cloud deployments.
Cooper recently penned a blog post tactically focused on highlighting partner and customer benefits from the VCSP program changes. This includes the usual talking points of changing the program’s focus toward partners that can better support changing customer needs based around VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF 9) and private cloud.
“Against this backdrop, this is a defining period for the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) ecosystem, one that is focused on building a more economically viable ecosystem that is grounded in private cloud independence, deep services capability, and long-term customer value,” Cooper wrote.
The executive then goes on to state that those program changes – or “evolution” – are “deliberate by design.”
He added: “It reflects a shift in how VMware private cloud services are delivered and consumed, and it is intended to create greater clarity, consistency, and resilience across the ecosystem – ultimately driving stronger customer outcomes and business impact for both VCSPs and the customers they serve.”
Cooper noted that these service demand changes require VCSP partners “that demonstrate strong services capability, regional relevance, and capability to scale,” and that Broadcom is “committed to co-investing in VCSPs that demonstrate a clear focus on services capability, customer value, and long-term growth. This includes through training, supporting workload migrations, and aligning on go-to-market execution.”