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As other companies and vendors, VMware is using the suite concept to identify a products collection with similar scope (or complementar functions) and usually with a common lifecycle plan (at least after that the suite is declared).

It does not mean that all the products in a single suite will have a common look & feel or same versions, but new release are (usually) handled in a common way.

The vSphere suite was probably the first one defined by VMware (before ESX and vCenter Server were two different products and with different versions) and after that more suite were announced.

Actually the suites list included:

• vCloud Suite: the base to build a private cloud (or a Software Defined Data Center) that include several products like vSphere, vCenter Site Recovery Manager, vCenter Operations Management Suite and vCloud Automation Center. Actually the current version if 5.8 (but vSphere and vCloud Director remain on the 5.5 version)
• vCenter Operations Management Suite: the monitoring and management suite that include vCenter Operations Manager and other products. Actually the related version is 5.8.3.
• vRealize Suite: the new (introduced in the previous VMworld) cloud management platform purpose-built for the hybrid cloud, delivering and managing infrastructure and applications quickly while maintaining IT control. It include the vCenter Operations Management Suite (actually is not clear if it will replace it) and also vCenter Log Insight, vCloud Automation Center and IT Business Management Suite. The current version (but is just the first version) is 6.0.
• Workspace Suite: the replacement of the Horizon Suite (no more available, at least not in the original form) that include AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management, AirWatch Secure Content Locker Collaborate, VMware Horizon 6 Enterprise Edition, VMware Workspace Portal.

Probably there will more announces about the VDI and EUC product families, so maybe some Horizon or Air suite can appear in the the VMworld.

But at least the infrastructure/cloud part seems defined with the vCloud Suite designed for the on-premises scope (at least for the big companies) and the vRealize Suite for the management part both for the on-premises scope (for small or medium companies without the vCloud Suite) and also for the public cloud part:

The vRealize suite (or part of it) will be available also as a Service (as announced in the VMworld US), so not only for manage the public clouds, but also to have the management in a public cloud.

Note that there is also the EVO family, but actually seems just a family of different products rather than a suite name.

Andrea Mauro

Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.