Meeting Security and Compliance Through IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions

In the global logistics and supply chain industry, secure, compliant, and high-performance disaster recovery (DR) environments have become mission-critical components of every IT strategy.

With regulatory requirements growing more stringent and operational workloads increasing in scale and complexity, organizations can no longer rely on legacy architectures. Failure to modernize infrastructure not only jeopardizes compliance but also increases the risk of prolonged outages, data loss, and disruption to critical business operations.

Modernizing Supply Chain Disaster Recovery

How IBM Cloud Delivered the Transformation

One leading logistics provider faced exactly this challenge. Their disaster recovery operations needed an upgrade to vSphere 8 to meet internal security mandates and regulatory compliance requirements. The migration needed to be seamless, preserving existing VMware operational workflows, ensuring full compatibility with vSphere 8 and vSAN, and delivering measurable performance gains. At the same time, the client wanted to optimize ESXi host usage to reduce operational overhead, all without introducing downtime or increasing costs.

IBM Cloud designed a modernization strategy built on VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic, powered by 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors with vSphere 8 and vSAN compatibility. By migrating the client’s disaster recovery environment from 2nd Gen Intel® Xeon® to the new 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor hosts on IBM Cloud classic infrastructure. IBM enabled vSphere 8 with full vSAN support while meeting all internal security mandates.

Performance improvements came through higher core density, allowing the team to optimize the ESXi host count, reduce infrastructure overhead, and eliminate duplicate DR costs. Leveraging IBM’s long-standing relationship with the client and proven VMware cloud expertise, the migration was seamless, preserving the existing VMware toolset and minimizing operational disruption. To ensure a seamless transition, IBM Expert Labs – Cloud Expertise Connect guided the entire process. This included detailed migration planning, networking architecture design, and precise cutover scheduling to achieve a cost-neutral execution.

Modernized Infrastructure Landscape

Today, the provider runs a more secure, compliant, and efficient DR environment, supporting 400+ virtual machines. The upgraded infrastructure is designed not just to meet today’s regulatory demands but to scale for tomorrow’s workloads. This supply chain transformation highlights IBM Cloud’s ability to deliver secure, high-performance VMware solutions in highly regulated industries. 

Why Supply Chain Leaders Choose IBM Cloud:

• Lower operational costs through optimized ESXi host utilization

• Higher performance and scalability powered by 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors

• Cost-neutral migrations with minimal disruption to operations

• Security and compliance alignment with industry mandates

• Future-ready architectures that support hybrid models and data center consolidation

• Seamless integration of VMware environment with future-state architecture

Results and Business Impact: Take the Next Steps

By partnering with IBM Cloud, the client has achieved a modernized, compliant DR platform that improves performance, reduces costs, and is ready for future growth. The solution not only meets current security requirements but also positions the organization to scale confidently in a competitive, fast-changing logistics environment.

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