Virtual Computing Environment

Virtual Computing Environment Company (VCE)

Company type	Segment of EMC Corporation (formerly joint venture)
Industry	Information technology, Computer hardware
Founded	2009
Founder	EMC Corporation, Cisco Systems, VMware, Intel (financial backers)
Defunct	2016
Fate	Dissolved amid restructuring after EMC acquisition by Dell Technologies
Headquarters	Silicon Valley and Dallas, Texas , United States
Area served	Global
Key people	Michael Capellas (former CEO), Praveen Akkiraju (former CEO), Frank Hauck (former president), Chad Sakac (president of Converged Platform Division)
Products	Vblock Systems, VxBlock, VxRack, VxRail converged infrastructure solutions
Number of employees	~1,200 (2012)

Virtual Computing Environment Company (VCE) operated as a segment of EMC Corporation, specializing in the manufacture of converged infrastructure solutions designed for enterprise-level data centers. Established in 2009 under the name Acadia, it originated as a collaborative venture between EMC and Cisco Systems, with additional financial backing from Intel and EMC's subsidiary VMware. In October 2014, EMC secured a controlling interest by acquiring 90% ownership from Cisco, thereby becoming the majority stakeholder. The company was ultimately dissolved in 2016 amid internal restructuring and following EMC's acquisition by Dell Technologies.

History

In November 2009, Cisco, EMC, and VMware announced a strategic alliance to create cloud infrastructure platforms branded as Vblock Infrastructure Packages. Initially referred to as the VMware-Cisco-EMC partnership, this collaboration soon evolved into the Virtual Computing Environment coalition (VCE). Concurrently, Cisco and EMC established Acadia, a joint venture dedicated to producing standardized Vblock systems for data center deployment. Michael Capellas was appointed chairman and CEO of Acadia in May 2010. Early sales efforts encountered obstacles due to differences in customer organization structures and varied fiscal calendars. By the end of 2010, Acadia had secured 65 customers, with average system prices approximating $2.5 million.

In January 2011, Acadia merged with the VCE coalition to form the Virtual Computing Environment Company (VCE). The company maintained headquarters in Silicon Valley and Dallas, expanding later that year to Richardson, Texas, supported by the Texas Enterprise Fund. An additional office was established near EMC’s manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. In July 2012, Praveen Akkiraju from Cisco assumed the role of CEO, while Frank Hauck became president. At that time, VCE employed around 1,200 staff members; although revenue figures were not disclosed, the company was operating at a loss. Prominent customers included Babson College and the Mississippi Community College Board.

Despite initial doubts regarding its startup status and executive compensation levels, VCE earned recognition for its innovative approach and market impact. Its competitors included solutions such as NetApp FlexPod and Cisco’s CloudVerse architecture. In August 2012, EMC introduced VSPEX architectures in partnership with Lenovo as more cost-effective alternatives to VCE’s offerings.

By the second quarter of 2012, Gartner reported that VCE commanded a 57.4% share of revenue within the integrated infrastructure systems market. The company was featured in the “2013 Virtualization 50” list by CRN Magazine. In May 2013, VCE projected annual sales reaching $1 billion with over 1,000 Vblock Systems sold globally. However, SEC disclosures indicated cumulative losses exceeding $430 million from EMC and $457 million from Cisco attributable to revenue recognition methods. EMC contributed more than $667 million in cash plus stock-based compensation for an approximate 58% ownership stake; Cisco invested $457 million for roughly 35%.

By 2013, industry analysts increasingly regarded VCE’s corporate structure as advantageous for investors, emphasizing its innovation capacity and financial performance. Total sales had surpassed $1 billion with annual growth rates exceeding 50%.

In October 2014, EMC obtained majority ownership of VCE while Cisco retained a minority stake of 10%. In January 2016, VCE was restructured into EMC’s Converged Platform Division under President Chad Sakac. Following Dell’s acquisition of EMC in September 2016, this division was integrated into Dell EMC’s Converged Platform and Solutions Division.

By February 2018, Dell EMC introduced the VxBlock System 1000 as a permanent converged infrastructure solution. According to International Data Group reports, Dell Technologies’ converged systems business generated $6.51 billion in revenues during the year 2020.

Products and services

VCE offered converged infrastructure servers under the brand name , integrating VMware vSphere software with Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) servers, linked through Cisco Nexus switches and connected to EMC Symmetrix storage arrays. Despite the "block" designation, the storage supports access both as a block device and a file server.

The Vblock Systems were designed for extensive datacenter environments running enterprise applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SharePoint, and SAP ERP. These systems are delivered in standardized 19-inch rack formats to simplify planning for power and cooling within data centers.

Originally, VCE developed converged datacenter solutions named Vblock, which integrated Cisco's server and networking hardware, EMC's storage platforms, and VMware's virtualization technology. Subsequent product expansions included VxBlock supporting VMware NSX, followed by the introduction of VxRack in 2015 and VxRail in 2016 as distinct product families.

Original systems

In 2009, the Virtual Computing Environment alliance launched three Vblock Infrastructure Packages: Vblock 2 targeted high-performance data centers capable of supporting 3,000–6,000 virtual machines, utilizing Cisco UCS servers, Cisco Nexus 1000v switches, EMC Symmetrix VMAX storage, and VMware vSphere; Vblock 1 aimed at mid-market environments with similar components but featuring EMC Clariion storage supporting 800–3,000 virtual machines; and Vblock 0 was intended for entry-level deployments with EMC Celerra storage supporting 300–800 virtual machines. Over time, the terminology shifted from "infrastructure package" to "infrastructure platform," eventually settling on "Vblock System."

Vblock

The Vblock brand identifies rack-mounted assemblies comprising VCE’s integrated data center technologies. This converged infrastructure delivers pre-engineered, unified solutions with defined specifications for power consumption, weight, cooling requirements, and physical dimensions to streamline data center installation.

Vblock systems merge EMC’s storage and provisioning capabilities with Cisco’s networking and server hardware along with VMware’s virtualization software. Customer support responsibilities are centralized under VCE.

Two primary categories of Vblock systems include:

• EMC storage and provisioning:
  • VNX
  • VMAX
  • Ionix UIM/P
• Cisco compute and networking components:
  • UCS
  • Nexus
• VMware virtualization technologies:
  • vSphere
  • vDS via Cisco Nexus 1000V
  • MPIO through EMC PowerPath/VE

The naming convention evolved from "Vblock Infrastructure Packages" in 2009 to "Platforms" during 2010–2011, before adopting the term "Systems" by mid-2012 to reflect product evolution and market strategy. The underlying technologies from Cisco, EMC, and VMware have undergone continuous enhancements throughout this period.

Infrastructure Packages

Initially, these combined a reference architecture with physical and logical configuration processes conducted on-site at customer or colocation data centers. This approach later transitioned to assembly within a controlled manufacturing environment prior to shipment. Early market offerings featured limited configuration choices.

Series

• 300 series: Unlike the 0, 1, and 1U series, these units were assembled centrally and installed on-site by VCE partners or professional services teams at customer or colocation facilities. Models included EX, FX, GX, HX, as well as later additions such as 320, 340, and 350.
• 500 series: Built upon EMC XtremIO technology.
• 700 series: Provided expanded options with models labeled LX and MX, which were subsequently updated to versions 720 and 740.

Clients

The number of public clients was not made available until 2013, at which point VCE announced it had more than 800 customers spanning nearly 60 countries and approximately 2,000 Vblock Systems installed. Initial implementations during 2009–2010 did not follow uniform manufacturing standards and are occasionally omitted from official Vblock tallies. From late 2010 onward, factory-produced Vblock systems gained acceptance among various organizations, accompanied by published endorsements.

Systems for Enterprises

In May 2011, VCE unveiled the Vblock System Series 300, which included the EX, FX, GX, and HX models arranged from smallest to largest. The previously named Vblock 2 was rebranded as the 700 series.

At EMC World in May 2012, the launch of the Vblock System 700 LX marked the introduction of the top-tier model, capable of supporting thousands of virtual machines. This system integrated EMC software solutions for backup, recovery, replication, business continuity, and data mobility such as EMC Avamar, EMC Data Domain, and EMC RecoverPoint. Additionally, the 700 series incorporated EMC VPLEX to facilitate workload mobility and offered enhanced VMware integration with centralized oversight of multiple Vblock Systems.

In February 2013, VCE enhanced the performance and data transfer rates of both the Vblock 300 and 700 series by upgrading server and storage components.

Midmarket and Entry-Level Solutions

During 2013, VCE broadened its portfolio to target midmarket businesses and remote offices by introducing the Vblock System 100 and 200.

The Vblock 100 accommodates up to 200 virtual machines within either a 24U or 42U rack configuration. It includes up to eight Cisco C220 M3 blade servers, a pair of Cisco Catalyst 3750-X switches, and storage capacity reaching up to 8 TB via EMC VNXe3150 or VNXe3300 arrays. The Vblock 200 supports as many as twelve Cisco servers, two Nexus 5548UP unified Ethernet/SAN switches, a Cisco Catalyst 3750 management switch, and offers up to 105 drives through the VNX 5300 array.

Tailored Systems

In February 2013, VCE debuted a specialized platform that combined SAP HANA’s in-memory computing capabilities with the Vblock infrastructure. Later that year, it introduced high-performance database solutions optimized for Oracle environments alongside configurations specifically designed for VMware and Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure deployments.

Hyperconverged Platforms

Dell presented hyperconverged systems at EMC World in February 2015. The initial offering, the VxRack 1032 model, utilized EMC ScaleIO software-defined storage technology. A subsequent model, the VxRack 1034 announced at VMware World in September 2015, employed VMware VSAN technology. Both systems rely on commodity hardware—likely supplied by Quanta—with local disk resources managed through ScaleIO or VSAN software.

Software Offerings

VCE launched FastPath in August 2011, a desktop virtualization management application built on VMware View technology, followed by an update in June 2012. In February 2013, Vision Intelligent Operations Software was introduced to provide a consolidated management interface for overseeing Vblock Systems. Vision supports integration with third-party management, automation, and orchestration solutions from vendors such as VMware, Cisco, BMC, CA Technologies, among others through RESTful APIs, SNMP protocols, and unified logging mechanisms.

Services

VCE provides comprehensive planning, design consultation, and deployment services for Vblock Systems via its extensive partner ecosystem.