VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Advanced Services are a growing set of add-on capabilities that extend VCF beyond core compute, storage, and networking. While VCF on its own delivers a complete modern private cloud platform, these advanced services are designed to solve specific, higher-level challenges.

Broadcom has introduced services that focus on areas such as:

• Cyber resilience and security – for example, ACC for cyber recovery and ransomware resilience, and VDefend for detecting modern, fileless attacks and limiting lateral movement.
• Data services – DSM provides database-as-a-service for PostgreSQL, MySQL, NoSQL, and SQL Server (in tech preview, with GA planned).
• Observability – Network Observability extends visibility into WANs, public clouds, and upstream dependencies.
• Cost and business insight – ValueOps helps teams understand cost, utilization, and value, which becomes more important as AI workloads grow.
• Identity and zero trust – Identity Security, integrating Symantec technologies, strengthens zero trust beyond native IAM.
• Modern apps and AI – Tanzu services support Kubernetes-based workloads and emerging AI environments.

These services are built to complement, not complicate, the core VCF platform. They are optional and can be adopted selectively, based on your most urgent needs—such as regulatory compliance, AI readiness, database automation, or cost transparency.

VMware Private AI has shifted from being an advanced service to becoming a core capability of the VMware Cloud Foundation platform. This change reflects what is happening in real customer environments: AI is no longer experimental—organizations are actively running AI workloads on VCF and expect AI capabilities to be built in, not bolted on.

By making VCF Private AI Services part of the core platform, customers gain:

• Less friction – AI services are available as part of the standard VCF experience, rather than as a separate layer.
• Simpler deployment – Teams can design AI-ready environments without adding multiple extra services or integrations.
• More consistent operations – AI workloads can be managed alongside traditional and modern applications using the same operational model.

In practice, this helps organizations reimagine how they plan and operate their private cloud: AI becomes a first-class consideration in architecture, capacity planning, and governance, instead of a side project.

You do not need to deploy all VMware Cloud Foundation Advanced Services. VCF on its own provides a complete private cloud platform. Advanced services are optional tools you can bring in as your requirements grow more specialized.

A practical way to think about adoption is to start from your most pressing problems:

• Cyber resilience and compliance: Consider ACC for cyber recovery, ransomware resilience, and configuration drift remediation (using SaltStack), and VDefend to reinforce zero trust and detect modern attacks.
• AI and modern apps: Leverage the now core VMware Private AI capabilities and Tanzu services to support Kubernetes-based and emerging AI workloads while maintaining privacy and control.
• Data and databases: Use DSM if you need self-service databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, NoSQL, and SQL Server in tech preview) without heavy DBA overhead.
• Visibility and troubleshooting: Add Network Observability to extend insight beyond VCF into WANs, public clouds, and upstream dependencies, going well beyond basic tools like ping and traceroute.
• Cost and value management: Turn to ValueOps for financial intelligence and cost transparency, especially as AI workloads increase complexity and spend.
• Identity and zero trust: Use Identity Security, with integrated Symantec technologies, to strengthen identity assurance and interoperate with your existing IAM stack.

You can adopt these services incrementally. Many organizations start with one or two areas—such as cyber resilience or cost optimization—and expand as they see value. To help with this, VMware is publishing a dedicated Virtually Speaking podcast series that walks through each advanced service in detail, with real-world examples and expert insights.