VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator aids in deploying, managing, and securing scalable edge-native apps and infrastructure
Enterprises and providers see the edge as the next digital transformation frontier. Traditional custom hardware/software edge setups are shifting to intelligent, programmable, scalable software-defined edges. At VMware Explore 2023 in Las Vegas, new capabilities, solutions, and services were unveiled to speed up customer edge transformation. This includes:
- New VMware Edge orchestration capabilities to orchestrate and manage multiple edge services at scale;
- A new retail edge industry solution to better support customer engagement, loss prevention, and point-of-sale transformation; and,
- A soon to be available VMware Edge managed connectivity service enabling wireless service providers to deliver private 4G/5G services to enterprises.
“The growing demand for edge computing across industries is driving the need for automation and orchestration”
Sanjay Uppal, senior vice president and general manager of Service Provider and Edge, VMware
“The growing demand for edge computing across industries is driving the need for automation and orchestration,” said Sanjay Uppal, senior vice president and general manager of Service Provider and Edge, VMware. “The VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator is a powerful new tool that extends our proven network automation and orchestration capabilities to help organizations more securely and cost-effectively install, configure, operate, and maintain their edge deployments. Building on our history of scaling edge networking from carriers to enterprise, VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator is the first truly software-defined edge solution for scalable ‘end-to-edge’ infrastructure.”
Introducing VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator
Enterprises are looking to transform both the value they are delivering to their customers as well as how they deliver this value. The challenge in achieving the goal of leveraging the edge effectively is the complexity across people, processes, and technology. This includes a lack of reliable connectivity with a central data center or cloud location, a lack of IT expertise on-site at disparate sites, and the need to scale deployments to thousands of sites, often across domains and geographic boundaries.
VMware is introducing new and enhanced orchestration capabilities for the edge. VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator (formerly VMware SASE Orchestrator) will provide unified management for VMware SASE and the VMware Edge Compute Stack—an industry-first offering to bridge the gap between edge networking and edge compute. Enhancements to the orchestrator will help customers plan, deploy, run, visualize, and manage their edge environments in a friction-free manner—allowing them to run edge-native applications focused on business outcomes. The VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator (VECO) will deliver holistic edge management by providing a single console to manage edge compute infrastructure, networking, and security.
VMware defines the software-defined edge as a distributed digital Infrastructure that runs workloads across a number of locations, close to endpoints that are producing and consuming data. It extends to where the users and devices are—whether they are in the office, on the road or on the factory floor. Enterprises need solutions to connect these elements more securely and reliably to the larger enterprise network in a scalable manner. VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator is key to enabling a software-defined edge approach. VMware’s approach to the software-defined edge features right-sized infrastructure (shrinking the stack to the smallest possible footprint); pull-based orchestration (security and administrative updates are “pulled” by the workload); and network programmability (defined by APIs and code).
“Audi wants to take factory automation to the next level and benefit from a scalable edge infrastructure at its factories worldwide,” said, Jörg Spindler, Global Head of Manufacturing Engineering, Audi.“
