VMware Expands Tanzu into a Full Platform Engineering Environment
Enterprise software provider VMware is expanding its Kubernetes platform to include an internal development portal and a runtime for applications to span multiple clouds.
The company unveiled these enhancements Tuesday at its annual user conference, VMware Explore, being held this week in Las Vegas.
“We have expanded the definition of Tanzu Application Platform to include a portal and a secure supply chain, and also a runtime that automatically scales and a common set of services,” said Purnima Padmanabhan, VMware senior vice president and general manager for the company’s modern apps and management business group in a press briefing for the event.
Built on the Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations, the Tanzu Application Platform (TAP) is VMware’s enterprise offering for managing cloud native applications, using a modular architecture, open interfaces and a common data control plane.
TAP now includes an internal developer portal (IDP), based on the popular Spotify-built Backstage, that provides a place for developers to share application templates and (in Beta) DIY Backstage plug-ins. It also includes an admin console to configure and operate Tanzu Application Platform capabilities and applications.
Also new in Beta is the VMware Tanzu Application Engine, a multicloud Kubernetes-based runtime environment for the platform engineering team to procure runtime capabilities with specific requirements — such as high availability, secure connectivity, and scalability — across different Kubernetes clusters and clouds. The engine itself can enforce the requirements.
FinOps Comes to Tanzu
Tanzu is also borrowing some capabilities from the VMware Aria portfolio of cloud management software, and folding it into a new offering called the Tanzu Intelligence Services. Features include:
- VMware Tanzu with Intelligent Assist: A chatbot to streamline operational workflow (tech preview).
- VMware Tanzu CloudHealth: Machine learning-based forecasting (beta) to improve budget planning and dynamic Kubernetes rightsizing (Beta).
- VMware Tanzu Insights: An observability platform for troubleshooting and resolving issues across distributed Kubernetes, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure environments. (Initial availability planned for Q3 FY24).
- VMware Tanzu Guardrails: Multicloud governance and enforcement through policy-based automation.
- VMware Tanzu Transformer: Migration assessment and workflows for moving apps to VMware Clouds and public clouds.
Exploring VMware Explore
The Tanzu announcements were only a handful of the new technologies unveiled at the show. The company also discussed a partnership with Nvidia to equip enterprises for large-scale generative AI; an expansion of VMware Cloud including a new virtual private cloud capabilities built on the NSX+ interface to provide full isolation of networking, security, and services to multiple tenants on a shared VMware Cloud; the VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator will provide unified management of multiple edge computing nodes; and AI integrations to the Anywhere Workspace platform to streamline employee productivity and reduce exposure to software vulnerabilities.
VMware has conducted research that indicates that 70% of CIOs are now developing new cloud native applications.
@VMware President Sumit Dhawan #VMwareExplore Keynote introduces Tanzu Application Engine for platform engineers to improve scaling and make it simpler to scale and build applications so properties are automatically provisioned for those apps and “stay that way,” he says. pic.twitter.com/0aQYCmr0DE
— BC Gain (@bcamerongain) August 22, 2023
