VMware debuts cloud, virtualisation marketplace

VMware is joining a number of other virtualisation and cloud vendors in trying to leverage online marketing muscle to expand its customer base, while offering new products to its partners and developers, eWeek reports.

On 25 January, VMware officially unveiled its Solution Exchange, an online virtualisation and cloud marketplace designed to help customers, partners and developers locate and purchase VMware-certified products.

VMware's new marketplace follows closely on the heels of the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualisation 3.0 offering from Red Hat. VMware Solution Exchange shares many similarities with Red Hat's marketplace, and both offer copious amounts of information about each respective company's products and associated partner products.

According to CIOL, developers can also embed YouTube videos, provide product overviews, and select technology categories, downloadable trial software, screenshots products, downloadable whitepapers, architecture blueprints and other marketing collateral.

Parag Patel, VP, Global Strategic Alliances at VMware, says: "With the VMware Solution Exchange, we are offering our robust partner network a new and centralised marketplace to promote their solutions and directly connect with customers to help expedite the sales process.

“For customers, our goal is to empower them to quickly and easily find the resources they need to make purchasing decisions to accelerate their journey to the cloud, while also helping our technology partners deliver and manage joint solutions in a single, self-service location."