LAS VEGAS — Almost a year after partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and promising VMware customers the ability to run their workloads in the public cloud using the same VMware software stack, “Today we’re delivering on that promise,” said VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger during his keynote at VMworld 2017.

“This really is the ultimate hybrid solution, the ability to run any application on vSphere and now seamlessly take that private cloud environment and move it into the public cloud,” he added.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy joined Gelsinger on stage to announce the initial availability of the highly anticipated VMware Cloud on AWS. The service is initially available in the AWS US West (Oregon) region. It will expand to the East Coast of the U.S. next, and then to AWS regions worldwide in 2018.

Early access and beta customers include Accenture, Sysco, Adidas, Medtronic, Brink’s, Cerner, Elemica, MIT, Moody’s, the state of Louisiana, and Sysco. Fifty organizations trialed the service, but about 1,000 wanted do test drive it, VMware executives said.

Jassy said VMware Cloud on AWS gives customers “the best of both worlds. The world’s leading private cloud provider along with the world’s leading public cloud provider. People here are pretty fired up about this.”

The service is powered by Cloud Foundation, VMware’s software-defined data center (SDDC) platform that includes vSphere for compute, VSAN for storage, and NSX for network virtualization, along with vCenter management. The software runs on AWS bare-metal infrastructure.

Gelsinger described some customer uses cases for the service. Moody’s, he said, used it for cloud migration. “They didn’t want to re-factor their current applications. VMware Cloud on AWS solved that for them — a low-risk pass to the cloud with minimal disruption to their IT applications.”

Another beta customer, Scripps Networks, is using the service to build its next-generation app services.

About three dozen technology companies have already signed on as part of the partner ecosystem. These include Rackspace, CA Technologies, Chef, Splunk, Cloud Velox, Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, and Dell EMC.

AWS and VMware are reportedly in talks to develop enterprise data center software. If the rumors are true, this would move AWS into the private cloud.

Neither Gelsinger nor Jassy discussed extending their partnership and moving it into the private cloud. At a press conference after the keynote, when Jassy was asked if AWS wanted to extend its reach into the enterprise market through the VMware deal, he said AWS is simply responding to customer demand.

“Enterprise is still at the relative beginning of their journey [to the cloud],” Jassy said. “Customers are in this transition, and being able to make that transition where they can easily use the [VMware] tools and software that they’ve been using for the past several years on top of AWS is very attractive.”

Moving VMware’s software stack to the public cloud is part of the company’s larger strategy to allow customers to create and deliver enterprise applications across any cloud and any device, Gelsinger said in his keynote.

“It’s all about apps,” he said. “That’s what is making the winners and losers of tomorrow. And the essence of the VMware strategy is enabling businesses to create and deliver apps across any device, any appliance, and any cloud with intrinsic security.”

Photo: AWS CEO Andy Jassy (right) joined VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger on stage during the opening VMworld 2017 keynote.