VMware Cloud Director Reviews

Name: VMware Cloud Director
Brand: VMware
Rating: 4.0 (68 reviews)

4.0 out of 5

68 reviews
93% willing to recommend

1,581 followers

What is VMware Cloud Director?

VMware Cloud Director, also known as vCloud Director, is a cloud management tool that offers secure, flexible, and efficient cloud resources to thousands of enterprises and IT teams across the world. The solution serves as one of the leading cloud service-delivery platforms for businesses that want to manage and operate their services effectively. By deploying this solution, companies can benefit from virtualized networking, computing, security, and storage. These benefits can be received in a timely manner, as the infrastructure of the product is operationally ready within minutes and clients do not need to install and configure physical infrastructure.

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VMware Cloud Director is the #5 ranked solution in top Cloud Management solutions. PeerSpot users give VMware Cloud Director an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. VMware Cloud Director is most commonly compared to VMware Aria Automation: VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Automation. VMware Cloud Director is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 57% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 20% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

VMware Cloud Director

February 2025

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Featured reviews

NiteshKumar1

Principle consultant at Infosys

The overall dashboarding is very crystal clear. The ability to switch from one infrastructure to another infrastructure and get into detailed information, whether it is compute, storage network, or whatever. That helps you get a holistic view of the overall infrastructure running in your landscape. This also helps the leadership and management be aware of the right potential investment strategy by looking at the potential utilization. vCloud Director also provides ways and means through which you can make a prediction or a forecast of the infrastructure that would be needed in the future, depending on what you are currently running. That does not take away the fact that we have to be completely aware of our pipeline projects in our schedule so that you can plan your infrastructure requirements accordingly. vCloud Director provides multifold features that have been beneficial to the end users.

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Tim Abboud

Key Account Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

It fits well in larger groups but not necessarily in the managed service provider model. It optimizes the process for cloud structure, but it varies greatly from customer to customer. With the first implementation, we had networking issues with vCloud Director in multi-tenant cloud environments. But with more experience and our dedicated vCloud Director, it works fine now. We use it with NSX. Initially, I was concerned about future issues with NSX and vCloud Director. Thankfully, experts improved it, and it's getting better. However, networking is very sensitive in large vCloud Director deployments. My opinion is that our specific installation or storage configuration might have made it difficult to achieve optimal product placement.

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Tek Kee Wang

Senior Technical Advisor at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

As my company started off with the product a few months ago, we have not faced any issues and are still exploring the tool's functionalities. The interface of the product is okay. Sometimes, there is a disconnection that happens between vCloud Director and its underlying VMware vCenter, where the actions are supposed to be taking place, making it an area where improvements are required. My company is still exploring the aforementioned area of the product. I feel the product is continuously evolving. I can't comment on whether VMware needs to focus on marketing efforts to promote its products since it is in the transition phase after Broadcom purchased it. My company is waiting to see what is going to happen next. VMware purchases Broadcom, and I don't know if, under the new management, the changes that will be made are going to be beneficial to customers or not, so it depends on how Broadcom is going to play the game.

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VMware Cloud Director mindshare

As of March 2025, the mindshare of VMware Cloud Director in the Cloud Management category stands at 6.9%, up from 6.7% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Cloud Management	Mar 2, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Mar 2, 2025	Download
Comparison	VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Automation	Mar 2, 2025	Download
Comparison	VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Operations	Mar 2, 2025	Download
Comparison	VMware Cloud Director vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)	Mar 2, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
VMware Aria Automation	4.0	11.2%	94%	170 interviews Add to research
IBM Turbonomic	4.4	5.8%	98%	205 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

VMware Cloud Director offers self-service capabilities, multi-tenancy, and scalability. Users appreciate its integration with VMware's Hybrid cloud platform, intuitive UI, and robust security measures. The extensibility allows integration with other services. It excels in orchestration, automation, and virtual machine management. Users value the platform’s stability, easy provisioning, load balancing, and remote console features. It facilitates seamless networking with NSX integration, providing efficient resource management and significant infrastructure flexibility.

"VMware Cloud Director is quite scalable; I would rate it nine out of ten."
"The reliability and flexibility of networking are valuable."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

Room for Improvement

VMware Cloud Director needs enhancement in platform maturity, interoperability, and integration with hyperscalers like Azure and AWS. Its pricing is high for smaller entities. Users desire improvements in UI, search functionality, and automation features. Integration with additional cloud and network devices is required, and better third-party integration and documentation are suggested. Stability, installation, and tech support need refinement. Users request enhanced billing capabilities and more comprehensive public cloud feature sets. Pricing adjustments are desired.

"There are occasional problems when trying to increase the parameters of a virtual machine, which sometimes results in pending tasks that fail due to errors, requiring support intervention."
"VMware should simplify the whole solution as it comprises many different components, making management hard."
"The tool's price is one of the challenges we faced with the solution, making it an area requiring improvement."

ROI

Users achieve ROI with VMware Cloud Director by leveraging service provider models and efficient resource delivery, reaching break-even in 1.5 years. This is achieved through cost-effective licensing, manpower reduction, and improved client provisioning speed. Users note that the total cost of ownership can be high, and the return can be slow. However, some experience positive returns, particularly with managed services and chargeback features. Challenges exist post-Broadcom acquisition, impacting VMware support on AWS.

Pricing

VMware Cloud Director is generally perceived as an expensive solution, with high licensing and setup costs, often rating around four to six out of ten on a pricing satisfaction scale. While the solution is considered pricier than alternatives like Nutanix and Microsoft SPLA, some users find its unique features justifying the expense. Licensing can be perpetual, with costs influenced by usage and licensing models such as VSPP. Discounts may alleviate some pricing concerns, but enterprise buyers should budget for substantial investment.

"If ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as a four out of ten."
"If one means a very bad price, and ten means a very good price, I rate the price as a five on a scale of one to ten."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing eight and a half to nine out of ten."

Popular Use Cases

VMware Cloud Director is primarily used for managing multi-tenant cloud environments, enabling service providers to offer Infrastructure as a Service. It facilitates virtual data center creation, resource automation, infrastructure provisioning, and private/public cloud management. Service providers leverage it for hosting customers, infrastructure optimization, and workload management. Customers gain power over their platforms, allowing them to deploy virtual machines, manage applications, and create virtual private clouds, enhancing cloud service delivery and operational efficiency.

Service and Support

VMware Cloud Director customer service is noted for being helpful and resolving issues promptly. Their technical support receives mixed feedback, with some praising its quick and knowledgeable assistance, while others suggest areas for improvement, like response times and the availability of experienced staff. Many emphasize the effectiveness of VMware's documentation and community resources, reducing the need for direct support. For certain versions, support availability can vary, and some mention frustrations with global support coordination.

Deployment

Experiences with VMware Cloud Director's initial setup are mixed. Many find it straightforward, benefiting from comprehensive documentation. Some describe it as complex, particularly with compatibility concerns and integrating multiple components. Although deployment is quick, configuration challenges exist, especially when integrating with other systems. Improvements in recent versions have been noted, making the setup easier. Expertise in VMware tools can simplify the process, but complexity can increase with specific organizational needs or when transitioning from legacy systems.

Scalability

VMware Cloud Director exhibits strong scalability, enabling rapid expansion in cloud environments. Users highlight seamless scaling from hundreds to thousands of machines, with Dell Blades and pods optimizing growth. Though some limitations exist, many rate scalability highly, appreciating integration with systems like vRealize. It's adaptable for various users, managing increased workloads effectively, and accommodating numerous customers and virtual machines. The platform's flexibility and ease of scaling are advantageous for medium to large enterprises.

Stability

VMware Cloud Director is praised for its mature technology and stability, supporting large loads with minimal issues. Most users report it as very stable, with consistent high availability. Some note rare complications in updates or heavy use, yet VMware addresses these efficiently. Occasional hardware hiccups exist, but the platform's reliability manages them well. Despite some minor backend issues, users find the solution ideal for stable operation and rate its stability highly.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our VMware Cloud Director Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Healthcare Company

University

Real Estate/Law Firm

Insurance Company

Retailer

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Construction Company

Media Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Legal Firm

Performing Arts

Transportation Company

Agriculture

Hospitality Company

Non Profit

Outsourcing Company

Marketing Services Firm

Sports Company

Engineering Company

Consumer Goods Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Compare VMware Cloud Director with alternative products

Learn more about VMware Cloud Director

One of the biggest advantages of vCloud Director is that it allows users to build cloud-ready applications. In several ways, it facilitates the process for developers, including:

Open to DevOps: The product addresses the needs of DevOps teams by providing Infrastructure as Code services with vCD Terraform Provider. This allows developers to deliver infrastructure directly from code. Additionally, it provides capabilities from Python and vCD API as well as Object Storage API and App Launchpad APIs.
Customization: This solution is very customizable and extensible for cloud providers to deliver their own branding, themes, and services to their clients.
Dev-ready cloud: vCloud Director offers support for Tanzu Kubernetes Grid for vSphere and multicloud with a plugin for container service extension. Through these, native K8s Clusters or Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Clusters can be delivered and managed through a user interface (UI) and application programming interface (API).

vCloud Director Features

This VMware product has various features through which users can virtualize their data and benefit from quality management solutions. Among the popular capabilities of vCloud Director are:

Elastic secure virtual data centers: This vCloud Director feature provides tenants with securely isolated virtual resources, fine-grained control of their public cloud services, and independent role-based authentication.
Multi-site management: This feature allows companies to stretch data centers across sites and geographies as well as connect to existing dedicated vCenters for access and management or on-broad into VMware vCloud Director.
ISV ecosystem: This feature integrates leading cloud service vendors into the product using an open extensibility framework. Some of the partners of vCloud Director include Dell Data Protection, Veeam, Cloudian, AWS S3, and Dell ECS.
DRaaS workload protection: This feature allows users to deliver self-service tiered disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) on-premises to cloud and cloud to cloud.
Cloud migration: Part of this feature is the plugin VMware Cloud Director Availability, which enables simple migration to cloud, offering self-service cold or warm migration to users' vCloud Director clouds.
Operational visibility and insights: The product includes an accessible dashboard and a single pane of glass to provide centralized multi-tenant cloud management views.
Cloud-native applications and development: This feature makes the platform suitable for developers to sandbox or deploy apps as it natively supports Tanzu Basic, native K8s, and PKS.
Automation: Through various tools and deep integration, the solution allows users to automate complex infrastructure-as-code and tile UI-driven workflows. This allows them to deploy X-as-a-Service and maintain full access control and visibility at the same time.
Application Platform as a Service: This feature enables users to deliver their own catalog-based applications or VMware Cloud Marketplace-certified third-party cloud applications through the plugin App Launchpad VMware Cloud Director.
GPU as a Service: Utilizing Nvidia AI Enterprise, this feature provides support for GPU as a Service and delivers multi-tenant GPU services for customers who require high-performance compute for GPU-specific applications.
Secure cloud: The solution supports multiple security-centric features to deliver an enterprise-class cloud service, including NSX-T distributed firewalling, workload encryption, and integrated disaster recovery replication.

vCloud Director Benefits

VMware vCloud Director offers various benefits to its users. Some of these include:

The solution provides a highly efficient self-service model which consists of a virtual data center compute, network, storage, and security.
VMware vCloud Director offers its users multi-tenancy infrastructure with deep automation which facilitates their daily tasks.
The product is cost-efficient, as it is service-ready on its very first day and offers a high revenue from services.
Businesses can deliver services to their clients in a timely manner through this product, benefitting from its natively integrated solutions.
VMware vCloud Director provides users with high flexibility, as it allows businesses to stretch networks across virtual data centers globally.
The solution provides load-balancing capabilities, which facilitate the creation of new hybrid applications and digital transformation initiatives.

Reviews from Real Users

Ajit Y., a cloud architect at a computer software company, likes VMware vCloud Director because it is a stable, truly multitenant software and the go-to tool for infrastructure as a service.

Kashif F., a divisional engineer at National Telecom Corporatio, rates vCloud Director highly because the product can be used for infrastructure provisioning without using a platform service.

VMware Cloud Director was previously known as vCloud Director.