Based in Palo Alto, California, VMware's products and services focus on cloud computing, particularly virtualization. Virtualization software allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical server, thereby maximizing the IT resources that a business has available.
The breakthrough technology, VMware Virtual Platform (VMP), laid the foundation for the company's success.
| Founded | 1998 | Row 0 - Cell 2 |
| Current CEO | Raghu Raghuram | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| HQ | Palo Alto, California, USA | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| Annual Revenue | $13 billion (2023) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
History of VMware
Founded in 1998 by Diane Greene, Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang, and Edouard Bugnion, VMware's desktop virtualization tool allows x86 architectures to run on any PC that uses this chipset. The company also has a version of its application (the hypervisor) that runs on servers.
In 1999, the company launched its first official product, VMware Workstation, which quickly gained popularity as a powerful tool for software development, testing, and virtualization. It allowed users to run multiple operating systems on a single computer, independent of the underlying hardware.
The company could also see how its virtualization technology could enable businesses in the server market to enhance their services. In 2001, VMware released its GSX and ESX Server applications. ESX Server marked a significant step forward, eliminating the need for a host operating system running directly on the server hardware.
In 2004, the company was acquired by EMC (known as Dell EMC today), with Greene remaining as CEO. However, her tenure ended in 2008 when, after poor financial performance, she was replaced by Paul Maritz – a 14-year veteran of Microsoft. Later that year, Greene and co-founders of the company Mendel Rosenblum resigned. The same year, the company launched Nexus 1000V via a collaboration with Cisco.
Releasing its open-source PaaS Cloud Foundry in 2011, a year later, their CEO would change again, with Pat Gelsinger being appointed as the new CEO.
VMware created Pivotal Software in association with General Electric in 2013, with many of the company's developer products (RabbitMQ and SQLFire, for example) being moved to this new business. The same year saw the appearance of vCloud – VMware's own IaaS product. In 2021, Raghu Raghuram took over as CEO.
In 2022, Broadcom Software Group announced its intention to acquire VMware for a reported $61 billion. After the UK's Competition and Markets Authority concluded its investigation into any potential for the market to be restricted, the deal went ahead in November 2023.
Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom, said at the time: "Building upon our proven track record of successful M&A, this transaction combines our leading semiconductor and infrastructure software businesses with an iconic pioneer and innovator in enterprise software as we reimagine what we can deliver to customers as a leading infrastructure technology company. We look forward to VMware's talented team joining Broadcom, further cultivating a shared culture of innovation and driving even greater value for our combined stakeholders, including both shareholders."
Raghu Raghuram, CEO of VMware, said: "VMware has been reshaping the IT landscape for the past 24 years, helping our customers become digital businesses. We stand for innovation and unwavering support of our customers and their most important business operations, and now we are extending our commitment to exceptional service and innovation by becoming the new software platform for Broadcom. Combining our assets and talented team with Broadcom's existing enterprise software portfolio housed under the VMware brand creates a remarkable enterprise software player. Collectively, we will deliver even more choice, value and innovation to customers, enabling them to thrive in this increasingly complex multi-cloud era."
What does VMware sell?
VMware's core technology is vSphere. The technology allows data centers to run several virtual machines on a single server, optimizing the resources that the datacenter can offer to their customers.
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VMware has expanded its services and technologies as the cloud has become more critical for business processes. For example, vCenter Server allows datacenter administrators to monitor the virtual machines they have created.
VMware NSX is an SDN that makes managing secure network architectures in a virtual environment much more effortless. VMware Cloud Foundation brings together vSphere, NSX, and vSAN (Virtual Storage Area Network), which offers an off-the-shelf virtualization solution for data centers.
Horizon offers desktop virtualization solutions that businesses can use in their officers, but more critically, it can help them manage remote workforces, which have become the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing its drive to offer comprehensive virtualization solutions, VMware acquired Carbon Black in 2019 to enable the company to provide robust endpoint security within its virtualization portfolio of products and services.
VMware's mergers and acquisitions
Since its inception, VMware has been active with several acquisitions each year. In 2008 alone, the company made five purchases of companies, including Foedus, Trango Virtual Processors, and the Israel-based start-up B-hive Networks.
Since 2010, the company has made several acquisitions, including SlideRocket (which was sold in 2013), PacketMotion, DynamicOps, which was re-branded vRealize Automation, and Orchestrator, which was re-branded again as VMware Aria Automation.
From 2014 to the present, VMware has continued acquiring companies that complement its core services and technologies. Many of these purchases have been to deepen VMware's cloud applications.
For example, in 2014, VMware purchased CloudVolumes, CloudCoreo in 2018, and Avi Networks in 2019, when the company also acquired Carbon Black.
Key figures at VMware
The initial founders of VMware were Diane Greene, Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang, and Edouard Bugnion.
Currently, after the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom Software Group, Sumit Dhawan is president of the company, with Kit Colbert serving as CTO, and Raghu Raghuram as CEO.
