How Microsoft and VMware are redefining business with VDI and cloud technology

UPDATED 11:42 EDT / AUGUST 24 2023

by Chad Wilson

With technological innovation reshaping industries at a breakneck pace, the very framework of how we work, interact and live is undergoing a massive transformation.

As virtualization and cloud computing become household terms, a wave of transformation is shaping industries and forging new paths in digital landscapes. Scott Manchester (pictured, left), director of product management for Azure virtual desktop and Windows 365 at Microsoft Corp., and Brett Tanzer (right), vice president of product management at Microsoft, recently shared their insights on these technological revolutions.

“It used to be that you’d hire people that lived within a driving distance to your office and that was your base of people you could choose to hire from,” Manchester said. “Now that we’re all globally connected and we can give people access to secure corporate environments from anywhere in the world, in any of our data centers, now my workforce can be anywhere in the world.”

Manchester and Tanzer spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Lisa Martin and Rob Strechay at VMware Explore 2023, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Microsoft and VMware are revolutionizing the way companies utilize virtual desktop infrastructure and cloud solutions, as well as taking a deep dive into the products being produced out of the Microsoft-VMware partnership. (* Disclosure below.)

Microsoft Azure’s collaboration with Azure VMware Solution, or AVS, has resulted in a unique solution that benefits customers across industries, according to Tanzer. AVS extends the VMware Cloud Foundation product into Azure Data Centers, providing a seamless connection to the network and taking advantage of the benefits of Azure’s global data center footprint.

By including AVS in VMware Cloud Universal, Microsoft and VMware have made it easier for companies to buy and consume the product. Microsoft and VMware have done a lot of work to “take the friction out of how you buy and what it takes to get the best cost,” according to Tanzer. “It really is the VCF, the VMware Cloud Foundation product that people are using on-premises today. We’ve just taken it in conjunction with VMware, and we brought it into Azure Data Centers.”

While AVS focuses on bringing the power of VMware into the Azure environment, Azure Virtual Desktop concentrates on the evolution of virtual desktop infrastructure. The security boundary that AVD offers ensures that corporate data doesn’t remain on personal devices. It enables a secure hybrid work environment and allows for quick scaling to meet immediate needs.

“Azure Virtual Desktop is a cloud VDI product. We took this technology that’s been around for decades we call VDI, or virtual desktop infrastructure, and we brought that capability to the cloud, leveraging a lot of the same thing,” Manchester said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMware Explore 2023:

(* Disclosure: Microsoft Corp. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Microsoft nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

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