VMware Acquiring Avi Networks To Bring Public Cloud To Data Centers

‘VMware is committed to making the data center operate as simply and easily as it does in the public cloud, and the addition of Avi Networks to the growing VMware networking and security portfolio will bring us one step closer to this goal,’ says Tom Gillis, SVP and GM for VMware’s Networking and Security business.

VMware said it’s looking to bring public cloud experience to the data center with the planned acquisition of red-hot startup Avi Networks by creating the “industry’s only complete software-defined networking stack” built for the modern multi-cloud era.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in VMware’s current fiscal quarter, were not disclosed.

“VMware is committed to making the data center operate as simply and easily as it does in the public cloud, and the addition of Avi Networks to the growing VMware networking and security portfolio will bring us one step closer to this goal,” said Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager, Networking and Security, VMware in a statement.

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VMware, which is part of Dell Technologies, said it will offer both built-in load balancing capabilities as part of the VMware NSX Data Center as well as an advanced standalone application delivery controller (ADC).

Founded in 2012 by former Cisco executives, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Avi Networks is deployed in hundreds of global enterprises, including customers Deutsche Bank, Telegraph Media Group, Cisco and Palo Alto Networks. The company has raised $115 million in total funding from investors that include Cisco, DAG Ventures, Greylock Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The Avi platform enables organizations to overcome the complexity and rigidness of legacy systems and ADC appliances with modern, software-defined application services.

“Unlike existing ADC solutions, Avi Networks’ distributed ADC is designed for modern data center and public cloud deployments, with an architecture that mirrors cloud principles,” said Avi Networks CEO Amit Pandey in a statement. “Upon close, customers will be able to benefit from a full set of software-defined [Layer 2 to Layer 7] application networking and security services, on-demand elasticity, real time insights, simplified troubleshooting, and developer self-service.”

Key features include automation driven by closed-loop analytics, advanced analytics and insights for performance monitoring and troubleshooting, and ability to be deployed across on-premise and multiple cloud environments. The platform provides a Software Load Balancer, Intelligent Web Application Firewall (iWAF), Advanced Analytics and Monitoring and a Universal Service Mesh to help enable a fast, scalable, and more intrinsically secure application experience, according to the company.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based VMware recently posted strong results for its first fiscal quarter 2020 with revenue of $2.27 billion, up 13 percent year over year.