Broadcom expands VMware Cloud Foundation with AI and security

Broadcom this week launched VMware vSphere Express, a virtualization platform for smaller IT teams that supports up to 128 cores and is available immediately. Prashanth Shenoy, vice president of product marketing for Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation division, faced a sizing question at a press briefing. His answer focused on the portfolio's range.

“We’re constantly looking at, is the portfolio in the right place, right size to serve customers of all sizes and needs,” Shenoy said.

What changes in Broadcom's private cloud strategy?

The launch sits inside a broader expansion of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), Broadcom's private cloud platform for traditional virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads. Broadcom also added AI infrastructure, security, and disaster recovery capabilities to the portfolio this week.

The company is moving specific security and recovery features previously offered as advanced services directly into VCF. That consolidation matters for enterprise buyers, because the same tools now sit inside the core platform instead of arriving as separate service engagements.

Broadcom is also attacking the time and cost of standing up AI infrastructure. The new additions cover initial deployment, shared GPU-backed model access, object storage, recovery orchestration, compliance, and encryption for data in use.

For organizations running mixed estates, the bet is that one platform can absorb work that once required several products. Broadcom said VCF now supports virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads in one place.

Why introduce a smaller virtualization product?\n

VMware vSphere Express targets organizations that need essential virtualization without the broader features of VMware vSphere Foundation or the full VCF private cloud stack. Broadcom designed it for customers with small IT environments.

The product is built on vSphere 9. It supports environments of up to 128 cores. Broadcom included vMotion for live VM migration, high availability, distributed switching, rapid patching, and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security capabilities.

That feature set gives smaller teams a way to start on VMware's current virtualization base without buying the enterprise platform. It also creates a path out of the smaller product. Shenoy explained that vSphere Express customers can upgrade to vSphere Foundation or VCF as their infrastructure requirements grow.

The upgrade path is the commercial point. Broadcom can offer a low-core entry tier while keeping larger deployments inside its own product family.

vSphere Express is available immediately.

How does Broadcom cut the work in AI setup?\n

AI Infrastructure Quickstart is the clearest attempt to reduce deployment friction. Broadcom designed the capability to automate initial AI infrastructure deployment through a single vCenter plug-in.

The plug-in combines several configuration tasks into one workflow. Those tasks include vSphere Supervisor activation and infrastructure provisioning. Broadcom said this reduces the manual work required to get AI environments running.

“We have consolidated all of that, made a quick start workflow, and streamlined the workflow completely,” Shenoy said.

The second AI feature targets cost rather than setup time. VCF's multi-tenant model sharing lets multiple business units access centrally deployed AI models while maintaining separate security controls and data privacy. By sharing model infrastructure instead of deploying separate environments for each business unit, organizations could reduce GPU requirements and associated infrastructure costs, according to Broadcom.

Broadcom also added vSAN native S3-compatible object storage. The company said it provides integrated object storage alongside existing block and file services, with support for AI applications and other workloads.

Which security and recovery tools move into the core?\n

Broadcom is bringing several security, compliance, and disaster recovery capabilities into the core VCF platform. The enhancements include:

• Site Recovery Manager: Provides disaster recovery orchestration across thousands of workloads to help organizations recover from outages, hardware failures, and other disruptions.
• Virtual private cloud (VPC) policy-based connectivity: Lets administrators define and enforce workload isolation and security policies while providing developers with self-service access to network resources.
• Infrastructure configuration management and compliance: Automates configuration monitoring, drift detection, and remediation to help organizations maintain compliance with security benchmarks.
• Confidential computing: Provides hardware-level encryption for data in use across supported Intel and AMD platforms to protect sensitive workloads.

The list spans the infrastructure layer rather than a single workload type. Recovery orchestration and configuration drift sit alongside network policy and hardware-backed encryption.

That range reflects Broadcom's own description of VCF as a private cloud platform. The security additions sit next to virtual machines, containers, and AI deployments in the same product.

What stays in the advanced services portfolio?\n

Not everything moved into the core. Broadcom separately expanded its advanced services portfolio with three named products.

VMware HyperArmor adds proactive hypervisor protection. VMware Live Recovery provides disaster and cyber recovery through secure recovery environments. VMware Compliance and Configuration Management offers continuous compliance monitoring and automated remediation for virtual machine and container workloads.

Broadcom did not fold all of the existing service catalog into VCF. The expanded services portfolio remains distinct, even as comparable security and recovery features become native to the platform.

When do the new features arrive?\n

The release schedule splits the announcement in two. vSphere Express is already on sale. Most of the AI and platform enhancements must wait.

Planned for general availability during Broadcom's first fiscal quarter of 2027:

• AI Infrastructure Quickstart
• vSAN native S3-compatible object storage
• Site Recovery Manager capabilities
• Policy-based connectivity
• Infrastructure configuration compliance management

HyperArmor availability is also planned for the first fiscal quarter of 2027. Broadcom listed Live Recovery and Compliance and Configuration Management as part of the expanded advanced services portfolio.

That gives buyers a two-track picture. They can deploy a smaller virtualization stack now. The automation, storage, recovery, and policy features arrive later, and their usefulness depends on Broadcom shipping them on schedule across mixed Intel and AMD installations.

What to watch next

The next test for this portfolio arrives with Broadcom's first fiscal quarter of 2027. Organizations will then know whether the vCenter plug-in shortens real AI deployments, whether shared model infrastructure trims GPU bills, and whether recovery across thousands of workloads holds up outside Broadcom's own configurations.

Shenoy's portfolio question now has a concrete answer in the form of two launch tracks. Express opens the door to smaller teams, while the larger VCF bundle absorbs more of the work that enterprises used to buy separately.