Microsoft and VMware are Bringing Microsoft 365 and Workspace ONE Closer Together

In 2018, Microsoft and VMware started to play in the collaboration waters by announcing Horizon Cloud would soon be available on Azure. Today, the two companies are taking things a step further and integrating their modern workspace suites: Microsoft 365 and Workspace One.

Announced at Dell Technologies World 2019, customers that use both Workspace One and Microsoft 365 will soon be able to leverage the recently announced Windows Virtual Desktop. As part of this new agreement, VMware is going to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop to enable customers to further accelerate their cloud initiatives by utilizing Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure.

In addition, VMware states that customers will also be able to use Workspace ONE to secure Office 365 apps and data through cloud-based integration with Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.

While Microsoft and VMware are still competitors, this new functionality will benefit both companies. Microsoft gets to expand the features of Azure and Microsoft 365 while tapping into VMware’s extensive install base for its services. On the VMware side, they now have deeper access to Office 365 and Microsoft’s cloud, making their solutions more flexible and available in more locations as well.

Here’s everything that is announced by these two companies today:

• Azure VMware Solutions Now Available: Through this collaboration, the companies have announced new Azure VMware Solutions, providing customers with a native, supported, and certified VMware experience on Microsoft Azure.
• VMware Workspace ONE Integrates with Microsoft 365: Joint Microsoft 365 and VMware Workspace ONE customers will be able to use VMware Workspace ONE to manage the powerful productivity features of Office 365 via integration with Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.
• VMware Extends Capabilities of Windows Virtual Desktop: VMware will extend the capabilities of Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop to enable customers to further accelerate their cloud initiatives.

A few years ago, this type of arrangement would have seemed unthinkable, but as Microsoft has opened up its walls and VMware has evolved its strategy to include major cloud provides, each company is looking for new ways to expand its portfolio of tools to customers at every step of the digital migration journey.