Amazon Web Services Inc.’s decision in November to enter the on-premises server and storage business in partnership with VMware Inc. was analogous to a basketball team loading up on superstar players in its quest for dominance. Yet, the players still have to work together and get results, something that remains to be seen as AWS’ entry into the data center plays out in 2019.

On the surface, VMware appears pleased to extend its partnership with AWS into a data center ecosystem it knows quite well after abandoning its own attempt to build a public cloud business in 2017. VMware has built its enterprise clout on delivering networking and security in NSX software abstracted from the physical infrastructure, and the company message is all about simplification.

“The magic of what Amazon is doing is simplicity from A to Z,” said Tom Gillis (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of networking and security at VMware Inc. “Companies are spending too much time building the machinery to power the software to power the business. Working with Amazon, we can simplify how you build and deploy a data center.”

Gillis spoke with John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed the potential role of other hardware vendors in the new initiative and how VMware will be fully integrated with the AWS offering. (* Disclosure below.)

Role of hardware vendors

Still to be determined will be the impact of AWS’ move into the data center, called Outposts, on major hardware providers, such as Cisco Systems Inc. AWS has not yet disclosed whether its new service will include hardware vendors for servers or storage, although AWS Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has left the door open.

VMware works closely with Cisco to ensure interoperability, according to Gillis, but the roles are still different. “They solve different problems,” Gillis stated. “The problem that we solve with NSX is the policy piece of it. Web server can talk to app server can talk to database.”

Another question is how VMware and AWS partners will benefit financially from the new service. Outposts will be available through the AWS and VMware partner network, but it’s not clear whether there will be any market for added managed data center services.

For now, VMware is content to emphasize the benefits of its seamless networking approach. “In any scenario, we’re going to give you one set of policy, one set of enforcement across all of this with VMware Cloud Foundation as well as the VMware Cloud on AWS,” Gillis said. “We’ve worked very closely with the Amazon team to take NSX networking and embed it into Outposts so that it can talk seamlessly to enterprise networks of all shapes and sizes.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: VMware Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither VMware nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE