VMware is acquiring Dell EMC's Service Assurance Suite business -- which helps telcos and communication service providers (CSPs) with network health, performance monitoring and root cause analysis tasks. Rough 50 communications services providers (CSPs) leverage the suite. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The suite appears to align well with VMware's Telco NFV (network functions virtualization) business -- which helps service providers with the operational reliability in their core network, cloud, and IT domains across physical and virtual infrastructure, the company says.
The deal will also help CSPs prepared for 5G wireless and other next-generation services, according to VMware Executive VP Shekar Ayyar. Explaining the acquisition, he said:
"As carriers are readying for 5G, they are increasingly virtualizing edge and core networks with network functions virtualization, or NFV. Service assurance is a critical need for any network. The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite's established software and services capabilities, combined with VMware's trademark innovation, will empower CSPs to modernize and accelerate the transformation of their networks through NFV upon closing. The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite team is primed to accelerate our NFV business and help drive it forward with unprecedented service assurance."
VMware did not say how many Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite employees will join the virtualization company.
Dell Technologies and VMware: The Relationship
The deal has a hint of irony. Dell already owns about 80 percent of VMware. In recent months, Dell Technologies explored (and then rejected) potential reverse merger scenarios with VMware. Instead, Dell is pursuing financial steps that will shift the company from private to public markets. Michael Dell has vowed not to harm VMware's business as part of that journey.
