VMware Announces Intent to Acquire Avi Networks

Avi Networks will Advance VMware’s Strategy for Bringing the Public Cloud Experience to the Entire Data Center

Acquisition will Extend VMware’s Networking and Security Portfolio with a Modern, Software-Defined Application Delivery Controller

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), today announced its intent to acquire Avi Networks, a leader in multi-cloud application delivery services. Deployed today at hundreds of global enterprises—including Fortune 500 companies representing the world’s largest financial services, media, and technology companies—Avi Networks will further enable VMware to bring the public cloud experience to the entire data center—automated, highly scalable, and intrinsically more secure with the ability to deploy applications with a single click, upon close of the acquisition. Leveraging a common architectural foundation, VMware and Avi Networks will be able to deliver the industry’s only complete software-defined networking stack from L2-7 built for the modern multi-cloud era after the deal closes.

“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 after the acquisition closes,” said Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager, networking and security business unit, VMware. “This acquisition will further advance our Virtual Cloud Network vision, where a software-defined distributed network architecture spans all infrastructure and ties all pieces together with the automation and programmability found in the public cloud. Combining Avi Networks with VMware NSX will further enable organizations to respond to new opportunities and threats, create new business models, and deliver services to all applications and data, wherever they are located.”

“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 Amit Pandey, chief executive officer, Avi Networks. “Upon close, customers will be able to benefit from a full set of software-defined L2-7 application networking and security services, on-demand elasticity, real time insights, simplified troubleshooting, and developer self-service.”

Applications are the heartbeat of the modern enterprise. Enterprises need to deliver and update applications faster and more consistently across multi-cloud environments. To be successful, IT needs to automate all networking and security services across private and public clouds to enable self-service for developers and gain the agility the business needs. Beyond just automated provisioning, IT needs comprehensive visibility into the end-user experience and end to end application performance.

Unfortunately, legacy hardware-defined ADCs, including those refactored to run as software on VMs, lack the required capabilities to scale, secure, monitor and perform in a highly distributed cloud environment. Appliance-based load balancers can slow down application rollouts, cause overprovisioning, and increase costs. Legacy ADCs lack analytics and insights, which makes troubleshooting application problems slow and complex.

Upon close with Avi Networks, VMware will offer both built-in load balancing capabilities as part of VMware NSX Data Center, and an advanced, standalone ADC. The Avi platform enables organizations to overcome the complexity and rigidness of legacy systems and ADC appliances with modern, software-defined application services. Avi Networks’ key differentiators include:

  • Automation driven by closed-loop analytics, template-driven configuration, and integration with management products;
  • Advanced analytics and insights for performance monitoring and troubleshooting;
  • Ability to deploy across on-premises and multiple cloud environments;
  • Elasticity and on-demand scalability; and
  • Intrinsic security.

The Avi 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. Avi’s central control plane and distributed data plane deliver application services as a dynamic, multi-cloud fabric which intelligently automates decisions and provides unprecedented application analytics and on-demand elasticity. Avi customers can dispatch services such as load balancing and web application firewall to any application using one centralized interface. Avi technology runs across private and public clouds, and supports applications running on VMs, containers and bare metal.

The transaction is expected to close in VMware's fiscal Q2 FY2020, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. This acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on fiscal 2020 operating results.

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