VMware has been focused on the software-defined data center for some years, but now the virtualization giant wants a piece of OpenStack too.

Yesterday the company announced at VMworld 2014 its plans to integrate OpenStack application programming interfaces (APIs) with its cloud management software, so customers will be able to run OpenStack clouds using VMware’s management tools. VMware has gone whole hog and announced its own distribution of OpenStack called VMware Integrated OpenStack (VIO), which runs exclusively on VMware’s software.

The decision might be surprising to some, because OpenStack has often been described as a rival to VMware. But while it’s true that OpenStack does compete with VMware on some levels, in many ways the two can actually work very well together.

VMware argues that “… organizations, particularly enterprises, have found deploying OpenStack can be time- and resource-intensive, and the underlying infrastructure does not always meet their requirements for security, resilience and performance.”

VMware is known for those characteristics, and so a VMware-backed OpenStack distro promises the best of both worlds. “The goal with VIO is to make OpenStack an extremely well-integrated aspect of the VMware product portfolio,” said Dan Wendlandt, director of product management for OpenStack at VMware, in an interview with eWeek.

In a nutshell, VIO is the open-source OpenStack code with VMware drivers, plus an OpenStack-specific management tool and reference architecture. According to Wendlandt, the management tool, which includes vCenter Operations Manager and Log Insight, is primarily for handling installation and upgrades. In addition, the management tools will gain OpenStack awareness to provide new visibility for users in OpenStack environments, he said.

“The key thing here to note is that OpenStack itself isn’t solving all enterprise use cases and requires additional management wrapped around it,” Wendlandt explained. “That’s why we’re delivering an entire package, providing customers with a single contact for support.”

VMware announced VIO yesterday, but it hasn’t revealed what packaging or pricing options are availabile at this time.

“What we’re announcing is the availability of a private beta, but broader pricing and packaging will not be announced until we’re ready for a General Availability [GA] release,” Wendlandt said.