IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service

VMware infrastructure management simplified. You deploy, we manage.

What is VCF as a Service?

IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service is a managed service that delivers a VMware Cloud Director (VCD) based stack that enables businesses to build cloud computing environments that support their business needs.

Whether opting for a single-tenant or multitenant model, IBM handles the configuration, capacity management, monitoring, patching, upgrades, and security of the underlying VMware infrastructure, through a highly available management plane, so you can quickly deploy your VMware-based cloud computing environments.

You can purchase compute resources at the host level, leveraging several IBM Bare Metal Server and profiles, or on-demand compute resources at the vCPU, RAM, and Storage level.

With our multitenant consumption model, you can start as small as 1 VM comprising 1vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20 GB vSAN, and 1 network efficiency edge. On-demand pricing starts from USD 127/month.

Learn more Documentation

Demo

Explore the IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service in a guided demo. Full screen mode recommended.

Benefits
Simplify VMware management

Focus on your business needs by offloading the monitoring, patching and maintenance of the VMware management plane and underlying hardware to IBM.

Improve cost savings

Realize cost savings by opting for compute resources tailored to your unique workloads. Reserve capacity for continuous performance or buy on-demand for ephemeral workloads, you have the flexibility to manage your costs better. 

Faster time to market

Expedite time to market for migrating and modernizing existing VMware workloads to IBM Cloud by reducing migration risks and achieving complete automation on the highest rated-secure public cloud environment.

201% ROI: Forrester TEI Study

A 2024 Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ of IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions study, commissioned by IBM, modeled a composite client organization and calculated it could gain USD 2.01 for every USD 1 spent on IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions over three years.

View the Infographic
Key features
Multitenant

Spin up new virtual data center environments in less than 20 minutes. Choose from on-demand billing with no upfront commitment, or a monthly reserved billing option.

Single-tenant

Resize your deployments at any time by selecting from a range of host profiles by CPU, memory, and storage capacity required to run targeted VMware workloads.

Flexible consumption & performance options

Explore a wide range of consumption options for single-tenant (dedicated infrastructure) or multitenant (on-demand vCPU, RAM, Storage resources) for maximum flexibility. Storage performance options include NFS (0.25, 2, 4 & 10 IOPs/GB) and vSAN.

High availability

Leverage IBM Cloud to monitor, patch, and maintain the VMware management plane (VMware Cloud Director, NSX-T, vSAN, vCenter Server, vSphere, etc.) and underlying hardware to a 99.99% availability SLA.

Easy deployment through portal or APIs

Seamlessly manage the lifecycle of director sites and virtual data centers when using the VCF as a Service console or REST API.

Self-service backup

Discover natively integrated backup capabilities, ensuring business resiliency. Choose from market-leading backup solutions for your VMware resources on IBM Cloud.

Pricing and promotions

Limited time promo: 50% discount on 1 and 3 year contract (till June 31, 2025)#

Multitenant


Sample VM Configurations *

1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB Storage

4 vCPU, 12 GB RAM, 100 GB Storage

4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 100 GB Storage

4 vCPU, 20 GB RAM, 200 GB Storage

On-Demand
 

(per VM-Hr)

USD 0.0408

USD 0.2377

USD 0.2723

USD 0.3335

Reserved
 

(per VM-Mo)

USD 27.21

USD 158.15

USD 180.85

USD 223.04

1-year
 

(per VM-Mo)

USD 20.86

USD 121.49

USD 139.15

USD 170.45

3-year
 

(per VM-Mo)

USD 17.88

USD 104.13

USD 119.27

USD 146.10

#Promo Price
(1 & 3-year)

(per VM-Mo)

USD 14.90

USD 86.78

USD 99.39

USD 121.75

Get detailed pricing Contact Sales for limited time offer
  • All prices are inclusive of VCF licenses, that are built into the IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service platform.

  • Network Edge is required for the first VM/VDC being provisioned, and can also be used to connect multiple VDC networks. Pricing starts at USD 100 per month in the Dallas (US) region.

  • 1-year and 3-year prices stated above include the standard term commitment discounts.

Single-tenant
 

Sample Host Configurations (6 NFS profiles, 3 vSAN profiles & 6 SAP profiles)

Intel - 2 Socket, 48 Core, 384 GB RAM, NFS Storage

Intel - 2 Socket, 48 Core, 768 GB RAM, NFS Storage

Intel - 2 Socket, 48 Core, 768 GB RAM, 23 TB usable vSAN Storage

SAP HANA + Netweaver - 56 Core, 3072 GB RAM, NFS Storage

Reserved
 

(per Host-Mo)

USD 3,900.00

USD 4,300.00

USD 6,716.00

USD 8,635.18

1-year
 

(per Host-Mo)

USD 2,730.00

USD 3,010.00

USD 4,701.20

USD 6,044.63

3-year
 

(per Host-Mo)

USD 1,950.00

USD 2,150.00

USD 3,358.00

USD 4,317.59

#Promo Price
(1 & 3-year)

(per Host-Mo)

USD 1,950.00

USD 2,150.00

USD 3,358.00

USD 4,317.59

Get detailed pricing Contact Sales for limited time offer
  • Note: Network File System (NFS) Storage is available in increments of 24TB for 0.25, 2 and 4 IOPS/GB, and in increments of 4 TB for 10 IOPS/GB

  • VCF as a Service Single-tenant offers a range of host profiles, including 6 NFS profiles, 3 vSAN profiles and 6 SAP-certified profiles.

  • 1-year and 3-year prices stated above include the standard term commitment discounts. All prices are inclusive of VCF licenses.

Frequently asked questions

IBM Cloud is offering a limited-time promotional credit of USD 1000 for new IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service customers. Experience the benefits of a fully managed VMware platform, combined with a highly available, scalable VMware solution, offered -as-a-service. IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service is offered via on-demand (hourly) and reserved (monthly) billing options.

The credit has a duration of 45 days against your metered consumption of IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service, from the date of applying the code to the account. This offer is available to new IBM Cloud customers and can be used for both Single-tenant and multitenant consumption models of VCF as a Service.

To get started with IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service – multitenant using the VCFAAS1000 promo code, follow the below steps:

Step 1. Create a Pay-as-you-go or Subscription account on IBM Cloud. Learn more

Step 2. Within the IBM Cloud console, go to the Promotions and credits page. Enter VCFAAS1000 in the side panel, then click “Verify.” Once verified, click “Apply” to successfully apply the promo code.

Step 3. Provision your instance here

Offer Terms
There is a limit of one promotion code per customer account, and its usage is restricted to IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service. The USD 1000 credit is for use with this offer only and cannot be clubbed with other offers. Offer is subject to availability.

* Contact your IBM representative to save up to 50% on VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service with a 1 or 3 year contract.

IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service single-tenant is the dedicated consumption model offered as part of IBM’s hosted VMware Cloud Director service. It allows you to right-size your managed infrastructure with a wide range of host profiles and storage options to choose from. It is ideally suited for production applications and regulated workloads that require isolation.

IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service multitenant is the shared consumption model offered as part of IBM’s hosted VMware Cloud Director service. It allows you to request VMware VMs on-demand with no up-front commitment (billed hourly) or take advantage of guaranteed capacity and discounted pricing with the Reserved billing option (billed monthly).

Yes. In the Virtual Data Center (VDC) customers can define and use the IP ranges they want.

Yes, for VCF as a Service single-tenant.

Capacity can be added or removed on a monthly billing model. Multiple types of servers can be added so you can add/change capacity or types by selecting another instance type.

The VCF as a Service multitenant model is tailored for

  • Workloads and applications that aren’t running 24x7 or require cloud bursting during peak demands
  • Users who want to get started quickly by deploying on infrastructure created by IBM
  • Users that prefer a pay-as-you-go usage, starting small and scaling up as needed
  • Users that need capacity reservation values smaller than 1 host
  • Use cases such as a cost-effective standby disaster recovery site or off-site VMware backups

The VCF as a Service single-tenant model is tailored for 

  • Workloads that require consistent performance related to using dedicated infrastructure
  • Optimized host configuration for the use case (Balanced, Compute Intensive, Storage Intensive, etc.)
  • Clients who want to manage capacity at the host level
  • Clients who want to offload the burden of maintaining the VMware environment to IBM

The multitenant model starts from USD 127/month. One can start with a minimum of 1vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB vSAN Storage, and 1 efficiency edge.

The single-tenant model starts from USD 9,680/month. One can start with a minimum of 2 servers (6 servers for vSAN profiles).

Footnotes

* Listed configurations are for representative purposes only. IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service (Multitenant) allows users to configure VMs of any size.

  • Starting Price: Reserved consumption for a single VM running 24x7 with 1 vCPU, 1 GB of RAM and 20 GB of vSAN storage, with an Efficiency Network Edge server, is priced at ~USD 127 per month in the Dallas region.
  • All prices are inclusive of VCF licenses, that are built into the IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service platform.
  • The prices stated on this page are for the Dallas (US) region, and are subject to change.
  • Additional charges are applicable for Storage Edge, Network Edge tiers, Private Service Endpoints, Egress, add-on services, consumption-based charges, etc.
  • VCF as a Service Multitenant is available in both Single and Multi-Zone Region options.
  • 1- and 3-year commitments for Multitenant consumption qualify for standard discounts (vs. Hourly prices) of 30% and 40%, respectively.
  • 1- and 3-year commitments for Single-tenant consumption qualify for standard discounts (vs. Reserved prices) of 30% and 50%, respectively.
  • # Listed configurations are for repsentative purposes only. 1- and 3- year promotional price for single /multitenant consumption commitments.