VMware Timeline
From virtualization to cloud computing, with a commitment to be a force for good… scroll down to find out how VMware’s innovation has given rise to a better, more connected world.
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A COMPANY IS BORN
The VMware story begins on February 10, 1998, in sunny Palo Alto, California. It is here that five forward-thinking technologists, all passionate about creating a better way to compute, come together to form VMware, Inc. with Diane Greene as CEO. By the end of the year, the company grows to 20 employees.
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Diane Greene
Edouard Bugnion
Scott Devine
Mendel Rosenblum
Edward Wang
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First Product Brings Freedom
VMware presents its first product, Workstation 1.0, at DEMO 1999. “VMware Brings Freedom of Choice to Your Desktop,” declares The Wall Street Journal, and programmers around the world delight in the product, which allows a user to run multiple operating systems as virtual machines, all on a single PC.
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LOGO: 1999 - 2002 Word Spreads About Workstation
VMware reaches $1 million in bookings, thanks in part to the 2,260 universities that purchase Workstation 1.0.
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LOGO: 2002 - 2009 
ESX SERVER INTERFACE -
Hypervisor Forever Changes Virtualization
VMware releases the ESX Server 1.5, its first hypervisor. By consolidating multiple servers onto fewer physical devices, this groundbreaking product boosts performance, streamlines IT administration, and even helps organizations cut costs.
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Patent #6397242: The First of Thousands
On May 28, 2002, VMware is issued its first patent, #6397242: System and Method for Virtualizing Computer Systems. Three founders, Scott Devine, Edouard Bugnion, and Mendel Rosenblum, are credited as inventors. Today, the company holds more than 1,800 U.S. patents and, for the past three years, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has recognized VMware’s canon of innovations as the second most powerful software patent portfolio.
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LOGICAL LAYOUT OF A DEPLOYMENT USING VMOTION -
vMotion Powers First Live Migration
VMware introduces vMotion, which allows users to move a workload from one server to another, all while keeping the application running. Today, the ability to seamlessly migrate virtual machines is an integral part of nearly every virtualization deployment.
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vCenter 1.0 Simplifies IT Management
The vCenter server provides a centralized management platform that allows for simple deployment and automation of virtual infrastructures, along with greater visibility and control for IT.
A New and Improved ESX
ESX 2.0, a new edition of VMware’s famed hypervisor, allows users to make their existing servers even more efficient.
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VMware Goes Global
VMware expands abroad, opening its first European office in Frimley, UK. Since then VMware has opened offices all around the world, from Asia Pacific to the Middle East to Latin America.
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A Big Deal
The EMC Corporation acquires VMware on January 9, 2004, for $635 million.
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Inaugural VMworld Conference
2004 marks the first year of VMworld, which will come to be the world's largest cloud computing and virtualization conference. The first conference attracts 1,400 attendees—three times the expected attendance, but still a modest number compared to the more than 20,000 business people, entrepreneurs, and technologists who attended VMworld in 2017.
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Growth in People and Possibility
In 2005, VMware establishes its first offices in Bangalore, India, and Beijing, China. The company cultivates a strong culture of diversity, even as it grows rapidly. That same year, VMware reaches 1,000 employees globally.
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An Office in Ireland
VMware opens an office in Cork, Ireland, with five people. Today, the business in Ireland has grown to more than 1,000 talented people representing over 53 nationalities.
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A New Campus Among the Trees
VMware moves into the Palo Alto campus in Stanford Research Park. Exactly seven years later, VMware completed its expansion of this campus and dubbed it the “campus in the forest.” The Palo Alto campus remains VMware's headquarters to this day, boasting 105 acres, 1,500 trees, a pond, and 13 beloved turtles.
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VMWARE HEADQUARTERS IN PALO ALTO, CA
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VMware Goes Public
On August 14, 2007, VMware becomes publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock debuts at $29 per share and closes the day at $51.
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Distributed Resource Scheduler Provides Balance
VMware launches its Distributed Resource Scheduler, or DRS, which allows users to define the rules for allocation of physical resources among virtual machines.
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To $1B—and Beyond
Having passed the $1 billion mark in 2007, VMware has a banner year, closing 2008 at $1.9 billion of revenue. The year also brings a new CEO, Paul Maritz.
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LOGO: 2009 - PRESENT 
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VMware vSphere Earns Accolades
On May 21, 2009, VMware launches VMware vSphere, a virtualization platform for cloud computing that quickly becomes a mainstay in the industry. It receives the prestigious Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the software category.
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VMware Foundation Democratizes Philanthropy
The VMware Foundation launches as a platform for VMware people to get engaged in their communities, contributing where and how they choose. Citizen Philanthropy, VMware’s unique approach to giving, allows the company to amplify individuals’ contributions of time, talent, and financial resources, to the causes that matter most to them.
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VMWARE GOOD GIGS TREKKERS IN HARDOL, INDIA
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vCenter Operations Increases Customer Control
VMware launches vCenter Operations—now vRealize Operations—which lets users manage everything from applications to infrastructure. This kind of control enables customers to streamline and automate IT operations, changing how they manage their virtual and cloud environments.
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A New R&D Center, a Greater Cloud Presence
With R&D centers in Bulgaria, China, India, Israel, and the United States, VMware opens a large new R&D center in Pune, India. This contributes significantly to the development of VMware’s Cloud portfolio and brings the VMware workforce to nearly 11,000 employees around the world.
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PAT GELSINGER, CEO OF VMWARE -
Nicira Acquisition Brings Growth
VMware acquires network virtualization company Nicira for $1.26 billion. A key addition to VMware’s Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) strategy, Nicira’s Network Virtualization Platform (NVP) enables the dynamic creation of virtual networks that are independent from physical network hardware. This same year, Pat Gelsinger becomes CEO.
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“VMware NSX is the most revolutionary development in our data center security in more than a decade.”
- TERRY MCDONOUGH
PRESIDENT & CEO, AERODATA -
NSX and vSAN Support the Software-Defined Data Center
The launch of NSX brings about a completely new operational model for networking. By moving entire networks into software, NSX allows for a key security component, micro-segmentation, and empowers IT to help organizations become more agile and profitable. vSAN, a core building block of the SDDC, is introduced in the same year.
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Acquiring AirWatch
Just 18 months after Nicira, VMware buys AirWatch for $1.54 billion—the largest acquisition in its history. With AirWatch, VMware soon becomes a major player in the Mobile Device Management space, which allows companies to meet the increasing demand for BYOD (“bring your own device”) in the workplace.
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AIRWATCH CEO JOHN MARSHALL CELEBRATING WITH SANJAY POONEN, VMWARE COO, CUSTOMER OPERATIONS
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VMWARE EMPLOYEES SMILE TO CELEBRATE THE “I WISH” INITIATIVE -
VMware: A Great Place to Work
VMware is featured on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For list… and it has remained there ever since! This is thanks, in large part, to VMware’s EPIC₂ values—Execution, Passion, Integrity, Customers, and Community—which are at the core of everything the company does.
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“It’s all about the collective impact that people can have when they’re focused, have purpose, and just want to change the world.”
- BETSY SUTTER
CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, VMWARE
VMWARE CEO PAT GELSINGER AND DELL CEO MICHAEL DELL -
Largest Deal in Tech History
In the largest deal in tech history, Dell Inc. announces the intent to acquire EMC Corporation, including its stake in VMware, for $67 billion. This acquisition creates a unique family of businesses, under the name of Dell Technologies, that provides the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform IT, and protect their most important asset: information.
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VMWARE CEO PAT GELSINGER AND AWS CEO
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VMware and Amazon Join Clouds
VMware and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announce the launch of the VMware Cloud on AWS, enabling IT teams to manage their cloud-based resources with familiar VMware tools. This partnership signals the dawn of a new era in cloud computing, where customers can operate across multiple clouds without restriction.
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Stronger Each Year
VMware reaches 20,000 employees spanning across the globe.
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A Pivotal Product
VMware introduces its VMware Enterprise PKS in August of 2017. Enterprise PKS allows enterprises to deploy and operate production-grade container services, including Kubernetes (the “K” in “Enterprise PKS”), on VMware vSphere.
“Software has the power to transform not just business, but humanity. As the tech community comes of age, VMware will participate in a thoughtful way that acknowledges our individual and collective responsibility. The future is bright with so much to be achieved as we build the world’s digital foundation for tomorrow’s technology.”
- PAT GELSINGER
CEO, VMWARE
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Happy 20th Anniversary!
2018 marks 20 years of software innovation, optimization and automation at VMware. Employees celebrate throughout the year, remembering their greatest achievements and collective impact around the world.
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VMware Achieves Carbon Neutrality
Achieving carbon neutrality two years ahead of target, VMware remains committed to driving positive global impact across people, products and the planet.
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Two Acquisitions Accelerate VMware’s Strategy
The acquisitions of Pivotal and Carbon Black enable VMware to help customers build, run, manage, connect and protect any app, on any cloud and any device.
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VMWARE CEO RAGHU RAGHURAM -
Raghu Raghuram Becomes VMware CEO
VMware’s Board of Directors appoints Rangarajan (Raghu) Raghuram as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective June 1, 2021. Since joining VMware in 2003, Raghuram has helped steer the company’s strategic direction and its technology evolution throughout VMware’s rich history.
A CLEAR PATH TO
THE FUTURE
VMware has grown from five technologists working in a small apartment, to a leading innovator in enterprise software. Today the company’s compute, cloud, mobility, networking, and security offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to over 500,000 customers globally. VMware technologies have fundamentally changed IT, and with it, the possibilities open to business. Now VMware and its customers have the freedom to build their own digital futures.
We’re constantly looking for new opportunities to unlock technology’s full value. Find out how.