Microsoft teams up with VMware to keep up with Amazon

Microsoft Corp. unveiled a partnership with VMware Inc. in a bid to bring more customers to its Azure cloud-computing service, emulating a pact that has benefited rival Amazon.com Inc.

The agreement will let VMware customers move their technology systems to Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing services, the companies said Monday in a statement. Amazon Web Services, the leader in the market for cloud services, struck a partnership with VMware in 2016 to lure customers of the virtualization software maker to AWS.

“We’re thrilled about the partnership and we’re excited about getting this into the hands of customers to get them into hybrid cloud,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive officer, said at Dell Technologies Inc.’s annual user conference in Las Vegas, alongside Michael Dell and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. VMware is majority owned by Dell Technologies.