SAN FRANCISCO, California—VMware has thrown more of its support behind containers with a new Kubernetes platform called Tanzu.
VMware said the new Tanzu products and services would help enterprises build modern applications, run Kubernetes with consistency across environments, and manage all their Kubernetes clusters from a single control point.
RELATED: VMware is all-in on Kubernetes, says CEO Gelsinger
During last week's second quarter fiscal 2020 earnings call, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger teased that his company would be making a big Kubernetes-related announcement at this week's VMworld conference in San Francisco.
Tanzu includes a technology preview of Project Pacific, which is focused on transforming VMware vSphere into a Kubernetes native platform in a future release. It also includes VMware Tanzu Mission Control, which a single point of control that allows customer to manage all their Kubernetes clusters regardless of where they run.
With last week's announcement to acquire Pivotal Software, along with the deal to buy Kubernetes startup Heptio last year, VMware is now well positioned to deliver an enterprise-grade Kubernetes-based portfolio for modern applications to its enterprise customers.
While VMware had an existing relationship with Pivotal—including the jointly developed VMware Enterprise PKS—Gelsinger said last week that buying it outright gives VMware the "build" capability it needs to provide a full stack for Kubernetes.
“Organizations are seeking a partner to meet them where they are today and guide them as they move to modern applications,” said VMware's Raghu Raghuram, chief operating officer, products and cloud services, in a statement. “We’re positioned to help customers succeed along each step of their journey—building their applications with the addition of Pivotal’s developer platform, tools and services; running their applications with the groundbreaking Project Pacific which will transform vSphere into a Kubernetes native platform; and managing their growing Kubernetes footprint across environments from a single control point with VMware Tanzu Mission Control.”
Along with Pivotal and Heptio, VMware will use Bitami, which is acquired in May, to provide a catalog of pre-built Kubernetes clusters.
At VMWorld on Monday, VMware also announced Project Galleon, which is a beta offering that will enable enterprise IT to deliver customized, up-to-date application stacks and formats to end developers that are multi-cloud ready.
Enterprises that want to start down the path of Kubernetes on vSphere can adopt VMware PKS today, but VMware didn't say when Tanzu Mission Control and Project Pacific would be generally available.