Networking major, Cisco along with EMC and VMware joined hands to tap the rapidly growing Cloud Computing environment. The three now claim to be introducing a unique Virtual Computing Environment incorporating the expertise and competencies of the three firms.

The forming of the alliance comes a year after the three worked closely on a shared vision related to private cloud computing.

The alliance promises that the Virtual Computing Environment coalition will offer enterprises of all sizes an accelerated approach to data center transformation with dramatic efficiencies that promise significant reductions in both capital and operating expenses. As a result, organizations will no longer have to choose between best-of-breed technologies and end-to-end vendor accountability. 

“Today’s announcement addresses our customers’ greatest challenges and opportunities in the data center.” said John Chambers, CEO of Cisco. “This coalition is about more than technology and partnership. It is about an entirely new and unique approach to the data center that improves utilization, power consumption and security of information, all in a way that lowers the total cost to the customer, not via a box, but with a network-based architectural approach for optimizing virtual resources.”

Joseph Tucci, EMC chairman and CEO, said  “Cisco and EMC, together with VMware, are coming together in an unprecedented way to help our customers. They need to be able to shift more of their IT budgets to the development and rapid implementation of new technologies that help their organizations create differentiated business advantages. Many of them understand the vast potential of the private cloud. With shared roadmaps and a long-term commitment, the Virtual Computing Environment coalition will bring true accountability, along with the best-of-breed technologies our respective customers have come to expect, to help enable their success.”

 “Customers are increasingly looking to virtualization to dramatically improve the performance and flexibility of their existing IT systems,” said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware.  “Today’s announcement provides a compelling vision and set of roadmaps valuable to any company looking to harness cloud computing in a fundamentally more pragmatic and nondisruptive way.”