VMWARE AND KUBERNETES: MORE THAN JUST A DEFENSIVE PLAY

At first, VMware’s embrace of Kubernetes several times in several different ways over several years has a whiff of desperation about it. Kubernetes has been exploding in growth at the expense of the traditional virtualized applications that VMware has built its business upon. Kubernetes is nothing less than an existential threat to the company.But to call VMware’s Kubernetes support, launched earlier this week, a desperation play is an oversimplification. VMware is going far beyond mere support and making Kubernetes a full citizen of VMware-based datacenters. It is turning VMware’s long legacy – which might otherwise have been a weakness into a strength.VMware wants to take the lead in helping enterprises implementing Kubernetes. Those enterprises have special needs, with decades of existing infrastructure, much of which is built on VMware’s software. The mix would combine the agility of new technology with the maturity, security, stability and reliability of enterprise-class data centers.