VMware Inc. is launching a new initiative detailed Tuesday that will enable partners to more quickly develop managed services powered by its software.

“VMware Cross-Cloud managed services is yet another example of how we will empower partners to expand and grow their VMware businesses while collaborating to help customers implement a cloud smart strategy that accelerates their digital transformation,” said Zia Yusuf, the company’s senior vice president of strategic ecosystem and industry solutions.

VMware sells software products that enterprises use to manage their cloud and on-premises infrastructure. It has a large customer base, as well as an extensive network of partner companies. Those companies provide professional services that help customers more easily build and maintain VMware environments. 

The new initiative that VMware detailed this week will enable partners to develop managed services faster. In particular, it aims to encourage the development of two types of offerings.

First, the virtualization giant will help partners deliver what it describes as “VMware Cross-Cloud managed services for hybrid cloud”. Such services will enable enterprises to lower the cost of their on-premises infrastructure. Additionally, the offerings will focus on reducing the amount of time involved in moving applications to the cloud. 

To achieve those goals, partners will use several different software products. The first is VMware Cloud for AWS, the company’s joint software-defined data center-as-a-service with AWS. Additionally, partners will make use of Cloud Packs. Those are software bundles that each combine several VMware products in a single package optimized for a specific use case.

The virtualization giant’s new partner initiative also has another component. As part of the project, VMware will work with partners to develop “managed services for native public cloud and modern apps.” 

Such services will help VMware customers automate some of the manual work involved in maintaining their cloud applications. They also promise to reduce costs and improve security. Partners will deliver the services with the help of VMware products such as Tanzu, the software maker’s platform for building and  managing containerized applications.

Participating partners can earn a certificate known as a VMware Cross-Cloud managed services badge. According to the software maker, the badge will unlock access to several go-to-market benefits. Those benefits include a co-selling program that will see VMware promote participating partners’ managed services to customers.

According to the company, partners that receive the badge can earn up to “40% more rewards” for providing assessments and proof-of-concept projects. They will also earn up to 100% more for deployment services. VMware is promising to provide other financial incentives as well.

Customers, in turn, will receive access to a new software licensing option. It will enable companies to use existing VMware subscriptions in environments managed by participating partners. Using an existing subscription is more cost-efficient than buying a new one. 

VMware detailed on occasion of the initiative’s launch that there are more than 4,000 cloud service providers in its partner ecosystem. Those partners support tens of thousands of customers, according to the software maker.

Yusuf spoke to theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, at VMware Explore last August about the need to work more closely with system integrators:

Image: VMware