VMware on Azure? This time it’s official. Dell and Microsoft have buried the hatchet following a dispute over the provision of VMware on Azure, announcing a fully native, supported, and certified VMware cloud infrastructure on Microsoft’s Azure cloud.

The new all-singing, all-dancing partnership comes after Microsoft launched an unsanctioned way to run VMware virtualisation software in Azure in 2017, drawing a  tart rebuke from the company, which is majority owned by Dell.

The agreement is a sweeping one: Dell and Microsoft will also pre-install Microsoft 365 cloud applications on Dell devices running Windows 10, and the duo also agreed to integrate their networking software. (VMware already has existing cloud partnerships with IBM, AWS, Rackspace and several others).

VMware on Azure

“With this announcement Dell Technologies and Microsoft are working to simplify our customers’ entire technology environment,” says Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies. “Our goal is to provide a single view from edge to core to cloud – an integrated platform for our customers’ digital future.”

Customers will be able to build, run, manage, and secure new and existing applications across VMware environments and Microsoft Azure while extending a single model for operations based on established tools, skills and processes as part of a hybrid cloud strategy. the two said, adding: “Some of the more popular customer scenarios Azure VMware Solutions will support are app migration and datacenter expansion, disaster recovery and business continuity and modern application development.”

The same day that Dell pushed out the announcement, it announced its own foray into hybrid cloud, with the launch of “Dell Technologies Cloud”, which it described as “a new set of cloud infrastructure solutions to make hybrid cloud environments simpler to deploy and manage” by combining VMware and Dell EMC infrastructure.

The Dell Technologies Cloud portfolio consists of a new Dell Technologies Cloud Platforms and a new Data Center-as-a-Service offering, VMware Cloud on Dell EMC. Central to the offering is the idea of a single vendor experience for purchasing, deployment, services and financing across public cloud and on-prem.

VMware on AzureThese enable a flexible range of IT and management options with tight integration and a single vendor experience for purchasing, deployment, services and financing: “Dell Technologies Cloud gives customers more control as the operational hub of their hybrid clouds, on premises, with consistent cloud infrastructure across all cloud types and a broad set of more than 4,200 VMware Cloud Provider Program providers and hyperscalers including new addition, Microsoft Azure” the company said.

The aim, as Dell sees it, is to simplify the complexity of managing multiple clouds for CIOs/CTOs. Specifically, it provides one vendor to negotiate one contract for all their data centre requirements, with predictable subscription pricing.

The company cited an IDC report that found the package “can reduce total cost of ownership by up to 47 percent” compared to native public cloud.

Read this: What’s New in VMWare’s Horizon 7.7