We recently announced four new VMware Tanzu editions, each of which packages capabilities of the Tanzu portfolio into a solution that directly addresses a single, common customer challenge.
Your effort to modernize applications is already complex. Tanzu editions simplify your access to the tools you’ll need to move forward.
Common principles
Before walking through each of the four new editions, it’s important to first call out the characteristics that are common to all of them.
Open source-aligned – All four Tanzu editions make the best possible use of various open source projects, starting with putting Kubernetes at their core. We’ve included leading projects to provide you with flexibility and a range of necessary capabilities, including Harbor (for image registry), Antrea (for container networking), Contour (for ingress control), and Cluster API (for lifecycle management). We also make it easy to capitalize on cloud native patterns and build apps using the Spring framework. These projects are packaged for enterprise adoption, with the installers, UI, and support you need to use them with complete confidence.
Multicloud – The Tanzu portfolio upholds VMware’s longtime promise of enabling customers to run any app on any cloud. We offer the best Kubernetes experience on-premises, with Kubernetes embedded in the vSphere control plane and integrated into operations via the familiar vCenter UI. But you can extend that footprint beyond vSphere to any public cloud or edge environment (or start there in the first place). If you want to operate across multiple clouds, Tanzu editions offer a ubiquitous Kubernetes distribution as well as a global control plane with a policy engine that applies to every cluster (or group of clusters), no matter where they are located.
Dev and Ops together – We know that successful digital transformation requires alignment among all stakeholders in the software development process—87 percent of business and IT decision-makers agree that more alignment among software development stakeholders would lead to greater digital transformation success. VMware is in a unique position to bring Dev and Ops together in a shared effort to continuously deliver better software to production. Our portfolio focuses on both the developer and the operator experience. For example, enterprises keen to embrace containers will find Tanzu editions that allow operators to curate and secure a set of container images so that developers can grab and go, using those validated images to speed up their development efforts. We also provide services through VMware Pivotal Labs to help you jumpstart your modernization initiatives and create a culture shift that lasts.
The 4 new editions
Now that we’ve firmly established the core characteristics shared by all four of the new Tanzu editions, it’s time to break each of them down and detail the specific challenges they address.
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Tanzu Basic. Some enterprises started their cloud native journey with simple, containerized off-the-shelf (COTS) workloads. If you want to run COTS workloads on-premises as part of your vSphere footprint, Tanzu Basic is the most affordable and accessible edition. There is no need to invest in a heavyweight, proprietary container platform; Tanzu Basic offers the cleanest Kubernetes-based container management on vSphere, period. It also transforms vSphere by allowing you to run VMs and containers side by side while providing developers self-service access to resources via Kubernetes APIs. Tanzu Basic can be licensed as a bundle with vSphere 7 Ent+ or as an add-on to be deployed on vSphere 6.7u3, and is available this quarter.
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Tanzu Standard. Some organizations will have started with the same COTS workloads, but need to manage that footprint at scale on public cloud or across multiple clouds. Tanzu Standard offers the same, consistent Kubernetes distribution to deploy across environments (on-premises, public clouds, and edge) and a global control plane for centralized management. It’s all enabled by a policy engine that covers access management, backup, and more for individual Kubernetes clusters and groups of clusters across environments. That means the operator can set clear guardrails but provide developers with ready access to workspaces on Kubernetes where they can build unencumbered. We’ve also included monitoring via support for Prometheus and Grafana. Tanzu Standard can be licensed as a bundle with VMware Cloud Foundation or as an add-on to be deployed on vSphere 7, 6.7u3, public clouds, and/or at the edge, and is available this quarter.
And if you want to accelerate your move down this path, we can help. Our VMware Pivotal Labs team includes hundreds of architects that can design your cloud native infrastructure, deploy these technologies, and integrate them into your broader environment. The team has completed thousands of projects for customers and knows how to get you through platform deployment and development.
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Tanzu Advanced. In our experience, organizations building custom or container-based applications need expanded capabilities. If you’re trying to build a DevOps practice, for example, you’ll want to streamline how developers use containers and microservices, and make security part of software development so that it stretches towards DevSecOps. These are just some of the considerations driving the Tanzu Advanced edition. Tanzu Advanced will be available at a later, still-to-be-determined date. We’ll share more details when we have them.
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Tanzu Enterprise. Rounding out the lineup of new editions is Tanzu Enterprise. It’s the right solution for you if you want to improve developer experience and velocity with an automated application platform. Tanzu Enterprise encapsulates the fullest set of Tanzu portfolio capabilities and addresses the central objectives of operators (more efficiency and control at scale) and developers (more speed and freedom). Tanzu Enterprise will be available at a later, still-to-be-determined date, but we’ll have plenty more to share about it soon.
It’s worth noting that each Tanzu edition is a superset of the one before it. For example, Tanzu Standard is a superset of Tanzu Basic. That means you can start with the edition that’s most appropriate for you and step up to more capabilities whenever you’re ready. Note as well that, while we’re announcing these new Tanzu editions as packages of capabilities targeted at customer challenges, the standalone products in the Tanzu portfolio continue to be available.
At the end of the day, it’s about offering you choice and a path to application modernization that best matches your needs. We’re on this journey together.
Learn more about VMware Tanzu editions on our website.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Jesus Kiteque via Unsplash.
