In today’s business landscape, organizations across various industries are increasingly reliant on data. This dependency is poised to further expand because data is becoming progressively essential for shaping business strategies, fostering innovation, and enhancing operational efficiency, ultimately enabling companies to adapt and evolve more effectively.
The VMware Cloud Director extension for VMware Data Solutions empowers partners to cater to the data requirements of contemporary businesses. These multi-tenanted data services provide an ideal platform for both partners and tenants to leverage the potential of data.
We are delighted to announce a significant advancement in the realm of multi-tenanted data management services with the official launch of VMware Cloud Director extension for VMware Data Solutions version 1.3.
This latest release introduces event streaming processing (ESP) capabilities to our partners, including support for Apache Kafka, a widely acclaimed ESP solution from Confluent.
Data management has become an indispensable aspect of every business, ranging from startups to large enterprises. As the pace of modernization and the adoption of cloud technologies for data management continue to surge, Cloud Service Providers find themselves presented with a substantial opportunity in this domain.
The inclusion of Apache Kafka in the VMware Cloud Director extension for VMware Data Solutions, alongside existing support for SQL and NoSQL databases, empowers partners to offer a comprehensive “Data Management as a Service” solution to their tenants across various industries, spanning from BFSI and e-commerce to manufacturing and logistics.
Furthermore, as the focus on AI/ML models to support applications intensifies, event streaming solutions with their scalable real-time processing and low latency are gaining widespread popularity among businesses.
Fig 1.0 – 2023 State of data management solutions for digital natives from SlashData
Not just that, data (event) streaming is seen as an important driver in business value. The 2023 Data Streaming Report by Confluent shows that the solution delivers significant ROI for businesses. Here’s a chart that shows the ROI from Data streaming across industries.
Fig 1.1 – 2023 Data Streaming Report – Confluent
Thus, this is a top priority for IT investments across organizations with 89% considering this important and 44% considering this a top strategic priority.
Fig 1.2 – 2023 Data Streaming Report – Confluent
Customer challenge = Partner Opportunity
Nonetheless, as is customary with the adoption of any technology, challenges inevitably arise in the process of implementation and management. One prominent hurdle in the adoption of data streaming services is the scarcity of expertise and pertinent skills. As businesses expand and the number of data sources grows, managing these services in a do-it-yourself manner becomes increasingly intricate, demanding significant resource investments. This, in turn, presents an opportunity for VMware CSP partners to bridge a crucial service gap for their tenants.
In our commitment to transforming partners from mere service providers into facilitators of business success for their customers, we have incorporated the following enhancements in this new release.
Let’s see what’s new in the version 1.3?
Fig 1.3 – What’s new?
Boost IT Efficiency
Service Providers have the capability to oversee templates and make Confluent Platform for Kubernetes available to their tenant organizations. Tenants can leverage these templates to automate IT outcomes driven by events.
Control License Use
Service Providers possess the authority to establish or revoke Confluent Platform licenses when making them accessible to specific tenants. Additionally, they can upgrade the package versions of the Confluent Platform.
Tenants, on the other hand, enjoy the flexibility to select between Licensed and Non-Licensed options for deploying the Confluent Platform, tailoring their choice to meet specific requirements. Furthermore, tenants can individually update licenses on specific instances as needed.
Single Pane of Glass
Users, including both Service Providers and Tenant administrators, can monitor Confluent Platform usage through the Grafana dashboard. Service Providers also can personalize dashboards to cater to their tenants’ specific needs.
Compatibility Validation
Furthermore, we’ve introduced improvements to the Data Solutions Operator. Service Providers now receive alerts if the Data Solutions Operator is incompatible with the solution. Tenants will be informed of any errors related to an incompatible Data Solutions Operator. Once upgraded, tenants can access version-compatible Data Solutions Operators and proceed to upgrade to the latest version.
The Opportunity for Cloud Director CSP
For VMware partners utilizing VMware Cloud Director to offer Infrastructure services, there is an exciting opportunity to expand their service portfolio to include data management services through the VMware Cloud Director extension for Data Solutions. This integration of VMware Cloud Director extension for Data Solutions with VMware Container Service Extension provides infrastructure resources such as persistent storage, load balancers, package management, certificate management, and monitoring, all while offering standardized Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters. This entire infrastructure is built upon the secure VMware Cloud Director (VCD) platform, ensuring that the underlying VCD resources and security policies are extended to the solutions, resulting in a highly scalable and secure environment.
Fig 1.4 – Multi tenant data management construct
Getting Started
Download the latest version of the VMware Cloud Director extension for Vmware Data Solutions here. If you are already a user, upgrade to the latest version directly from the VMware Cloud Director UI or follow these simple steps.
Please refer to the release notes and our documentation page for more information on the release. Also check out the FAQ and the Reference Design Guide for a detailed information on the product.
Need more information on the product? you can connect with us via our dedicated Slack channel, or email us and we would be happy to respond to your queries and feedback or leave a reply.
