SoftBank Data Centers to Host VMware's IaaS Cloud in Japan

VMware and SoftBank Commerce and Service (a SoftBank Telecom subsidiary) have brought VMware's vCloud Hybrid service to Japan, the first Asian market for the Palo Alto, California, company's Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering.

For its part , VMware will build, manage, operate and support the vCloud service and provide the primary sales route to market through its ecosystem of partners. SoftBank will contribute its data centers, network and a dedicated sales force, including more than 7,000 re-sellers in Japan.

The service was announced last year and has been available out of five data center sites in the U.S. and UK, three of them CenturyLink facilities. VMware has plans for further expansion in Asia Pacific, as well as EMEA, and a U.S. federal government offering is in the works.

The vCloud Hybrid service in Japan will launch as a beta program, slated for general availability in the fourth quarter. It will initially offer compute, storage, networking, data protection and disaster recovery, the company said.

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said, “VMware vCloud Hybrid Service is growing quickly in the U.S. and UK, and the capability we are talking about today addresses Japan’s data locality, privacy, security and sovereignty challenges. More such deployments will follow, each tailored to suit the needs of key markets in Asia Pacific."

The joint venture between VMware and SoftBank is being billed as a service with the channel community in mind. vCloud Hybrid Service can now be sold the same way any other VMware product can. VMware says it has a network of almost 200 vCloud Service providers in Japan that operate clouds based on its software.

Next up: China

In addition to Japan, another Asian market VMware is going after is China. The company states that it has been pursuing a strategy of partnering with key Chinese technology, distribution and service provider partners to produce Chinese solutions for Chinese organizations.

It is exploring a hybrid cloud service with the cloud computing branch of China Telecom, under the brand name CT E-Surfing Hybrid Cloud Services. China Telecom, according to VMware, serves the largest Internet user base in the country.