Research & Development
VMware’s award-winning R&D team is comprised of thousands of top-notch computer scientists and world-class software engineers that are transforming computing through virtualization. Members of the R&D team voice their creative ideas and watch them become initiatives, participate in exciting short-term and long-term products on the VMware roadmap, initiate advanced research projects, and/or write and test code that ships. At VMware, our engineers continue to learn and grow by working with top professionals from around the world and recent graduates of top universities and by taking advantage of our extensive internal training opportunities and generous external education assistance program. R&D team members work on the latest computing hardware and software and have access to the ACM and IEEE libraries. VMware has R&D offices in: Silicon Valley, CA; Cambridge, MA; Broomfield, CO; Sofia, Bulgaria; Beijing, China; Aarhus, Denmark; Bangalore, India; Herzliya, Israel; and London, UK.
Computer Virtualization
Engineers interested in computer architecture and compilers get to invent techniques for reliable and efficient virtualization of computer resources. They work on virtualizing the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, cutting-edge multi-Gigabit Ethernet networking interfaces, modern USB and DVD devices, 3D graphics devices and state-of-the-art Fibre Channel and iSCSI storage area networks (SANs).
Distributed Systems/Applications
Engineers interested in algorithms, building distributed applications, APIs and fault-tolerant computing use virtualization as a key technology to design and implement applications that solve real-world problems. They work on developing scalable software capable of managing thousands of systems.
Operating Systems
Engineers interested in systems architecture, systems software, and distributed systems get to design and implement novel operating system techniques and algorithms for managing both virtual and real computer hardware. They work on harnessing the power of highly sophisticated computer and storage hardware.
Partner Engineering
Engineers interested in assisting partners solve problems and integrate their products into VMware’s products work across all R&D groups to ensure new hardware products are supported in current and future products.
Performance Engineering
Engineers interested in understanding the behavior of complex software, optimizing performance and characterizing applications get to analyze and improve the performance of key components of virtualization software for industry-standard computer systems. Engineers interested in performance management and diagnostic tools get to design and develop products to help customers manage the performance of their applications running in virtual machines.
Program Management
Engineers interested in managing high quality product releases coordinate with directors, product managers, technical support, development and QA engineers to assist planning and ensure high customer satisfaction. They work on cross-functional readiness, software development life cycle process, risk management, schedule, deliverables, change management and risk management.
Quality Assurance/Certification
Engineers interested in problem solving, developing testing tools, and hardware and software interoperability get to design automated tests to find bugs in our products or design plans to ensure that the products operate efficiently with all hardware and software systems. They work with the latest hardware, software and devices to ensure that our software executes flawlessly. They design and build test infrastructure, including automation framework and tools, coverage analyzers, and custom test tools.
SDKs
Engineers interested in designing code in multiple programming languages to create publicly available APIs get to provide integration points with our software prepare documentation as sample code for a complete solution. Our partners and customers use our SDKs to automate and customize their virtual machines.
Security
Engineers interested in computer security, intrusion detection systems, and encryption algorithms get to research and develop applications of virtual machine technology for computer security.
User Experience Engineering
Engineers interested in interaction designers, visual designers/ graphic artists, and usability research craft easy-to-use products for a varied use population on the Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X platforms. They are experts in human-computer interaction (HCI) who are both detail-oriented and technical in nature. UE engineers strive to provide the best possible experience for all VMware customers by applying the latest techniques and methods including think-aloud sessions, storyboarding, interviews, personas, conceptual modeling, high/low fidelity mockups, usability studies, and contextual inquires. The UE engineers work side-by-side with engineering to deliver enterprise applications using the latest technologies.
User Interfaces
Engineers interested in UI design, human-computer interaction, distributed computing and Web technology get to design and implement Windows, Linux, and Web-based UIs for using and managing real and virtual machines. They work with the latest technology in user interfaces and APIs for managing computer systems.
Technical Operations
The Technical Operations team supports the VMware R&D technical infrastructure. The team includes technical professionals from desktop and lab technicians to network, systems and storage engineers. The Tech Ops team interacts heavily with the R&D team using the latest technologies in an exciting and fast-paced environment.
Technical Publications
The Technical Publications team consists of over 60 writers, editors, managers, production personnel and tools specialists that work directly with product and project teams across the software development lifecycle to deliver documentation for the 25-plus VMware Products (major and minor releases) and SDKs. Team members must have the flexibility and versatility to adapt to the challenges that work on products with broad scope and scale can bring. The team prides itself on meticulous, fast-paced, high quality documentation. It is never boring!
R&D Testimonials
“VMware believes in an open-access approach to development. Sure you have specific duties and responsibilities in the position you've been hired for, but there's nothing stopping you from contributing to another product or project. All engineers have full access to source code for the complete line of products. Interested in fixing a particular bug or contributing in some other manner? Go nuts!” — Hiep, MTS, Continuing Product Development
“Career and personal growth are not just encouraged here, but valued. One of the best things about working here is that you are empowered to have a say in the direction in which you want to go. You can sign up for training at any time, and there are weekly opportunities, such as tech talks, to engage others and learn from other areas within the company.” — Meghan, Technical Operations Manager
“The most important factor in my decision to join VMware was continuing R&D in my specialization with better access to related technologies than I could ever hope to find in an academic environment, let alone another tech shop. I also really love that VMware helps customers reduce power consumption, so I feel as though my work carries an environmental benefit.” — Will, Sr. MTS, Virtual Infrastructure Management
“What I like best about working for VMware is that we provide products that are well received by customers and the industry. Every employee is part of making the history, and this alone is very satisfying. I feel I have a lot of impact on shaping and improving partnerships between VMware and its partners.” — Heqing, Manager, Program Management, Partner Engineering
“The most amazing thing about working at VMware is the opportunity to work on emerging, cutting-edge technology with some of the most creative minds in the industry today. It’s a great learning experience. Specifically, I, as a member of ESX-CPD-networking-dev team, get tremendous exposure to new and emerging technologies in networking. I also have the opportunity to interact with the ‘gurus’ of today’s networking world and an excellent platform to interact with various Fortune 100 clients.” — Kaustav, MTS, Sustaining Engineering
“It’s a great feeling to be part of the virtualization revolution, to be one of those chosen to change the world’s perception of computer science. Here people with imagination and creativity are appreciated, and innovation is our daily duty because we are artists, making the new science masterpiece.” — Gergana, Quality Assurance Engineer, Quality Assurance
“I didn’t want to work on some gimmicky social networking site, I wanted to work on a truly impressive product that is a feat of modern computer science. The work environment is fun, but not to the point of being distracting. If I need a break from a tough bug to go play ping-pong, I can do it, but at the same time, a high premium is set on doing good work the right way.” — Ethan, MTS, Desktop Solutions Group
“I graduated in December 2006 and joined VMware in March 2007. At the time, VMware was my dream company and the dream is still on. It’s been a great learning experience. We’re constantly being exposed to new ideas in the form of weekly tech talks and engineering offsites. The culture is very open there is a lot of inter-team and intra-team exchange of ideas and contributions. At VMware, I’m made to feel my contribution matters to the company. There is just so much energy in the environment – it’s contagious! I love it here at VMware.” — Shubhra, QA Engineer, Virtual Machine Group
“I've been working in the computer industry for 30 years - from IBM mainframes and 4004 microprocessors until now - and I would say that VMware is the most challenging and rewarding experience I've ever had. If you're looking to work in a nice place that forces you to work at the peak of your engineering capacity - and have some fun doing it - than VMware is the place for you.” — Mark, Sr. MTS, Virtual Machine Group
