In the realm of digital transformation, enterprises, and service providers are turning their focus to the edge as the next frontier. The current landscape of edge deployments, characterized by proprietary hardware and software integrations, is transforming a new paradigm – the software-defined edge. This modern edge approach is characterized by intelligence, programmability, and scalability. VMware has unveiled a range of new capabilities, solutions, and services to accelerate customers’ edge-based digital transformation.
In the realm of digital transformation, enterprises, and service providers are turning their focus to the edge as the next frontier. The current landscape of edge deployments, characterized by proprietary hardware and software integrations, is transforming a new paradigm – the software-defined edge. This modern edge approach is characterized by intelligence, programmability, and scalability. VMware has unveiled a range of new capabilities, solutions, and services to accelerate customers’ edge-based digital transformation.
The latest announcements encompass a range of offerings aimed at advancing edge-based digital transformation. These include the introduction of VMware Edge Orchestration Capabilities, streamlining the management of multiple edge services cohesively, and addressing the need for efficient orchestration at scale.
VMware Edge Solutions
Another noteworthy addition is the Retail Edge Industry Solution, a customized solution tailored specifically for the retail sector. This innovative solution is designed to bolster customer engagement, enhance loss prevention strategies, and drive transformative changes at the point of sale.
Additionally, VMware is gearing up to launch the VMware Edge Managed Connectivity Service, an upcoming offering that holds the potential to revolutionize connectivity for wireless service providers. This service empowers providers to deliver private 4G/5G services to enterprises, presenting a promising avenue for enhancing connectivity and network capabilities privately and securely.
Through these offerings, VMware aims to empower organizations to leverage the edge for their digital transformation endeavors, catering to specific industry needs and paving the way for enhanced efficiency, innovation, and connectivity.
According to Sanjay Uppal, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Service Provider and Edge at VMware, the surging demand for edge computing underscores the necessity for automation and orchestration. VMware’s new tool, the VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator, extends its established network automation and orchestration capabilities to help organizations securely and cost-effectively set up, operate, and maintain their edge deployments. This offering marks the first truly software-defined edge solution, enabling scalable ‘end-to-edge’ infrastructure.
VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator
Enterprises want to transform the value they deliver to their customers and how they deliver it. The challenge in effectively leveraging the edge is the complexity across people, processes, and technology. This includes more reliable connectivity with a central data center or cloud location, IT expertise on-site at disparate sites, and the need to scale deployments to thousands of sites, often across domains and geographic boundaries.
VMware addresses these challenges by introducing new and enhanced orchestration capabilities for the edge. VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator (formerly VMware SASE Orchestrator) will provide unified management for VMware SASE and the VMware Edge Compute Stack, bridging the gap between edge networking and edge compute. Enhancements to the orchestrator will help customers plan, deploy, run, visualize, and manage their edge environments frictionlessly to run edge-native applications focused on business outcomes. The VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator (VECO) will deliver holistic edge management by providing a single console to manage edge compute infrastructure, networking, and security.
VMware defines the software-defined edge as a distributed digital Infrastructure that runs workloads across multiple locations, close to endpoints that are producing and consuming data. It extends to where the users and devices are in the office, on the road, or the factory floor. VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator enables a software-defined edge approach with edge features with a right-sized infrastructure (shrinking the stack to the smallest possible footprint), pull-based orchestration (security and administrative updates are “pulled” by the workload), and network programmability (defined by APIs and code).
Jörg Spindler, Global Head of Manufacturing Engineering at Audi, highlights the transformative potential of a scalable edge infrastructure for factory automation. Audi’s Edge Cloud 4 Production, supported by VMware Edge Compute Stack and VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator, aims to enhance factory uptime, agility, and application rollout speed, replacing individual PCs and hardware on the shop floor.
VMware Edge Compute Stack Commercializes Project Keswick
Enterprises have addressed edge computing use cases on shop floors, stores, oil rigs, and more. In conjunction with the VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator launch, VMware introduces new orchestration capabilities for VMware Edge Compute Stack, based on Project Keswick. This technology simplifies the lifecycle management of virtual machine- and containers-based applications and infrastructure. It enables pull-based configuration and zero-touch provisioning and supports GitOps principles for desired state management. This solution is particularly beneficial for edges with unstable inbound network connections.
Project Keswick is an xLabs project that originated in the Advanced Technology Group in VMware’s Office of the CTO. Keswick works on any VMware-certified hardware as a highly optimized deployment endpoint for Kubernetes workloads, making it easier for customers to deploy, manage, and maintain containerized applications seamlessly. Keswick deployment is entirely automated and uses Git as a single source of truth for a declarative way to manage the infrastructure and applications through the desired state configuration enabled by GitOps. This ensures the infrastructure and applications running at the Edge are always exactly what they need to be.
VMware Edge Compute Stack’s support for new and existing applications lets customers consolidate hardware and modernize applications at their own pace. The low-latency architecture helps operate high-speed robotics and share GPU resources across applications. This reduces infrastructure and management overhead so customers can scale their edge operations for innovations. VMware provides customers with the reliability and resilience to repeatably run the most stringent Operational Technology (OT) applications.
VMware Retail Edge
VMware is introducing the newly unveiled VMware Retail Edge Solution, which seamlessly extends the agility, streamlined management, and heightened security of the VMware Edge Compute Stack to the dynamic realm of retail store environments.
Functioning as an integrated, software-defined platform, VMware Retail Edge Solution holds the potential to drive pivotal business outcomes, offering customers a comprehensive toolkit to construct, operate, oversee, connect, and safeguard their essential business services across their entire network of retail stores. This platform presents a straightforward and cost-effective approach, equipping businesses to streamline their operations effectively.
Organizations can substantially curtail in-store infrastructure expenses and management complexities by leveraging VMware Retail Edge. The solution empowers businesses to deploy and maintain applications remotely on demand, expediting the implementation of cutting-edge AI applications that promise to transform operations.
To enhance the adoption of partner solutions, VMware Retail Edge optimizes the process by consolidating these applications onto a single, scalable store innovation platform. The convergence of VMware Retail Edge with offerings from esteemed partners like Chooch.ai and Stratodesk paves the way for retailers to bolster key areas such as customer engagement, loss prevention, and point-of-sale transformation.
In essence, VMware Retail Edge Solution represents a leap forward in fortifying the retail landscape with advanced technology, simplifying operations, and ushering in the next wave of innovation that promises to reshape customer experiences and operational efficiency.
VMware Private Mobile Network
To further enhance edge-based digital transformation, VMware introduced the VMware Private Mobile Network. This managed connectivity service is poised to debut in the ongoing quarter (Q3 FY24), aiming to expedite edge-based digital transformation initiatives. Collaborating with wireless service providers, VMware is committed to simplifying the intricacies associated with private mobile networks. The goal is to empower enterprises to direct their attention towards strategic business objectives while leaving the complexities of network management in capable hands.
This offering, built upon the foundation of the VMware Edge Compute Stack, offers service providers the reliability of VMware technology. Seamlessly integrated into existing IT management platforms, the VMware Private Mobile Network ensures a swift and almost pain-free deployment, management, and orchestration process.
The introduction of this service also brings promising partnerships into focus. VMware announced its collaboration with initial beta wireless service provider partners such as Betacom, Boingo Wireless, and Federated Wireless, signaling a collaborative effort to shape the future of wireless connectivity solutions.
As the boundaries of edge computing continue to expand, the introduction of VMware Private Mobile Network underscores VMware’s commitment to providing practical solutions that streamline complex processes, enabling enterprises to harness the transformative potential of edge technologies with greater ease and efficiency.
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