VMware is hoping a rebranding of its vCloud Hybrid Service, newly named as VMware vCloud Air, will help the company push innovation forward.
The move shows how increasing competition in the cloud sector is prompting vendors to refresh, revamp and re-launch old and new services.
The announcement, made ahead of next week's VMware's VMworld 2014 event in San Francisco, is likely a direct response to the rising threat of Amazon Web Services own cloud service which last week expanded its Japan presence with a partnership with Softbank.
"The name change underscores VMware's commitment to deliver value added as a serious solutions (e.g. Infrastructer as a Service, Desktop as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service, etc.) to customers on its hybrid cloud platform," the company says in a press release.
It's not all about rebranding, however, as the company hopes its upgrading of its network will give users' an increase in options, flexibility and choice when figuring out how to deal with their business needs.
"We continue to see tremendous momentum for VMware vCloud Air as more and more businesses look to capitalize on the undeniable operational and economic benefits of hybrid cloud," said Bill Fathers, executive vice president and general manager, Hybrid Cloud Services Business Unit, VMware, in the release.
He argues the vCloud Air Network gives new elements to the company's cloud strategy, "enabling customer choice and flexibility to find the ideal, local cloud service based on industry leading VMware technology."
The cloud is quickly becoming a top tech priority for many companies, and a number of companies have announced new offerings recently that aim to push competition in the sector. Earlier this month, RacoWireless, a global machine-to-machine (M2M) services company, announced it was prepared to launch its latest Omega DevCloud service that would be able to communicate with numerous devices, Tech Times reports.
That move, coupled with Amazon's expansion in Japan, likely was pushing up against VMware and its desire to maintain its perch atop the global cloud industry.
