The need for VMware Tanzu

Companies with a large development footprint that were looking at or actively using Kubernetes faced two sources of resistance. First, they faced a myriad of problems running Kubernetes at scale across multiple teams. These are the problems listed at the end of the Kubernetes section of this chapter. Second, these teams were under pressure to use technology to deliver meaningful outcomes. This meant developers needed to be operating at their full potential with minimum friction, and operators needed to be able to scale across multiple teams with a unified set of tools. This is the outcome-driven approach described in the previous section. VMware Tanzu is a portfolio of tools geared specifically toward addressing both sets of needs for software teams.

This diagram highlights where VMware Tanzu fits both as the next iteration of software platforms on Kubernetes, as well as the integrated toolkit enabling world-class outcomes from software development, operations, and security engineers:

Figure 1.1 – VMware Tanzu in context

Now that we’ve established the context that prompted the creation of VMware Tanzu, we’re ready to describe the product itself.