by: Malar Velappan, VMware Director, Product Management, Multi-Cloud Commerce Platform
Navigating multi-cloud environments in an ever-changing business landscape can be daunting. Realizing this, Chief Digital Transformation Office (CDTO) team members sought to dramatically simplify our SaaS and subscription offerings as part of the company’s overall digital transformation journey. The solution was to create a modern and highly scalable commerce platform by automating, optimizing and integrating processes at all touchpoints. This allows for exceptional experiences with every interaction, in addition to all-new levels of transparency.
Now your digital business has a newfound ability to build, run and better secure apps across any cloud, with unparalleled freedom, agility and flexibility.
Have it your way
Enterprises, their global ecosystems, and the markets they serve have become incredibly complex in recent years. That is why our IT team designed the commerce platform from a Customer-/Partner-first perspective versus the traditional ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ software approach. These cloud services are available via three general categories.
- On-demand/pay-as-you-go with optional commits: The pay-as-you-go model allows immediate access to cloud services while offering infinite scalability as business conditions change. You are charged at the end of each billing period solely based on consumption. Optionally, you can purchase commits if you have a clear view of your company’s minimum usage, and would like to take advantage of discounted locked-in pricing for a set quantity and duration. Only usage beyond the active commits for the billing period is charged at the regular rate. VMware Cloud™ on AWS and VMware vRealize® services are examples of this model.
- Pure commits: Here your company can purchase a specific service at a locked-in price. The purchase cost is determined by the quantity, duration, and billing frequency (prepaid, annual recurring, monthly recurring), and there is an option to expand and upgrade to higher editions mid-term during the subscription. Customers can also adjust commit levels upon renewal. VMware Workspace ONE®, VMware Horizon®, and VMware Carbon Black® are examples of this model.
- Commits with overage: As the name suggests, this plan offers commits with the option to purchase services at overage rates beyond the active commitment. This offers additional flexibility when business environments unexpectedly change. VMware Tanzu®® Observability™ by Wavefront is an example of this model.
Don’t forget to click and subscribe
Subscription lifecycle management made easy. Your company has the opportunity to onboard a VMware Cloud service in multiple ways depending on your business needs.
If you currently have perpetual VMware offers, you can easily upgrade and transition to the equivalent cloud service. If your team would like to try the service first before making a purchase, there is a no-commitment option that you can eventually convert to a paid plan. You can also directly purchase a cloud service and immediately begin using it.
Once you purchase a subscription, managing the lifecycle is equally hassle free. With a few clicks, your team can add incremental quantity, applicable add-on offers, and upgrade to higher editions. In addition, there is the added benefit of co-term options.
- Short coterm—available for incremental quantity, add-on offers, and edition upgrade purchases—enables you to co-term the newer commitments to the existing subscription end date.
- Forward coterm allows for add-on and upgrade purchases for a specific duration (one year, three years, etc.), as well as that ability to extend the subscription term to match the new end date.
- Enterprise license agreement (ELA) coterm allows for subscription purchases for a flexible term to align to an existing ELA end date.
Renewals at the end of the subscription(s)—and early renewals ahead of the subscription end date—allow you to keep the existing service footprint as is, or move up to an expanded service footprint.
We’ve only just begun
Our CDTO crew is excited about what we’re accomplishing in the SaaS and subscription space. As the landscape changes, so will the VMware response to new challenges. Check back for more updates on this topic as we continue to deliver the best Customer experiences possible!
VMware on VMware blogs are written by IT subject matter experts sharing stories about our digital transformation using VMware products and services in a global production environment. Contact your sales rep or [email protected] to schedule a briefing on this topic. Visit the VMware on VMware microsite and follow us on Twitter.
