VMware Cloud Partner Navigator provides a seamless experience for VMware Partners to provide and manage cloud services for their customers. Cloud Partner Navigator builds on the abilities of Cloud Provider Hub by introducing infrastructure management and multi-cloud services. All of the previous Cloud Provider Hub features are still there, so you can switch to Navigator today without any repercussions.
How to make the switch from Cloud Provider Hub to Navigator
Upgrading to Navigator is as simple as clicking the check-box. Navigate to your organization settings, and enable the check box to enable Navigator. Migrating your customers to the new portal is done on a granular basis in the settings of each customer org.
What has changed?
While all of the Cloud Provider Hub features are still there, we’ve moved some things around that you should be aware of. Additionally, we’ll cover the new features in Navigator that you’ll want to take advantage of.
Tenants are now customers
We’re changing language to be more inclusive in many VMware products, as a result of this, you’ll notice that “tenant” is now “customer” and references to “Master Org” have been changed to “Provider Org.”
How to manage customer services
Managing Customer Services is just as simple as it was in Cloud Provider Hub. Simply Navigate to the customer management tab, and click on the customer name that you wish to manage. To search for a particular customer, you can use the filter button on the customer name column. This will take you to the customer’s portal, without any need for a provider user in that portal. Once in their portal, you can manage their services, infrastructure, users, and their usage.
Usage
In addition to MSP usage, rental usage is now included in Navigator. Usage Insight is easily accessible within Navigator and includes the ability to view the usage reports and manage instances of Usage Meter. This feature is currently enabled upon request.
API changes
The Cloud Provider Hub APIs have been carried over to Navigator, but it is important to note that the base URI has changed to navigator.vmware.com. There is currently a redirect in place from the old URI, but this will be deprecated at the end of service for Cloud Provider Hub. If you are currently utilizing the API, you should update the base URI as soon as possible.
New features in Navigator
Dashboard
VMware Cloud Partner Navigator now features a customizable dashboard to give you easy access to your most-managed customers and data. Widgets such as the map give you a good overview of your infrastructure assets, and the customer resources widget give you one-click access to your top customers resources.
Unified Infrastructure Management
A marquee feature in VMware Cloud Partner Navigator is the new unified, multi-cloud infrastructure management. You can now view, access, and manage your customer VMware Cloud on AWS SDDCs and Cloud Director Service VDCs in a single portal.
Customer resources
The customer resources tab gives you one-click access to any customer infrastructure resource, whether it’s a VMC SDDC, or an Organization VDC. You can also filter by any column, which makes it incredibly simple to find a resource even in the largest inventory.
Provider resources
The ‘all resources’ tab gives you all of your VMC SDDC resources at the provider level that you are utilizing for Cloud Director Service. You can see at a glance what each SDDC is used for, such as multi-tenant IaaS, or if it is used as a dedicated SDDC for a customer.
Cloud Endpoints
The Cloud Endpoints tab allows you to see your Cloud Director Service instances, and to create more. In less than 30 minutes, you can have a fully-deployed, multi-cell Cloud Director instance up and going anywhere in the world that is currently supported. Meeting customer demand for infrastructure resources has never been easier.
Customer Federation
Your customers are now able to manage their own user access through federated identity management. This means streamlined access for their end users, and no more requirement for yet another portal login. Please see this documentation for more information on setting up your customers for federated identity.
That’s it! The transition to VMware Cloud Partner Navigator is extremely simple, and I look forward to your feedback on the new experience.
