VMware Snaps Up Another Kubernetes-Focused Startup

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger is making good on his promise to further integrate container technology into his company, announcing plans this morning to acquire Bitnami for an undisclosed amount. Bitnami provides application packaging targeted at container and Kubernetes environments. Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president for strategy and corporate development and general manager of VMware’s Telco NFV Group, explained in a blog post that the deal will accelerate VMware’s multi-cloud and Kubernetes offerings. “Bitnami’s packaged application catalog enables developers to quickly and easily deploy open and closed source software to the world’s leading cloud providers as well as on their own servers,” Ayyar wrote. VMware explained that the Bitnami assets will allow its customers to deploy application packages to public or hybrid-cloud environments as a virtual machine (VM), container, or Kubernetes helm chart. It will also bolster VMware’s existing curated application marketplace.