The comparison below is based on my own understanding and observations while working with VCF Automation 9.x. Use the table as a practical reference for the differences I have observed, but not as an official Broadcom feature matrix. Capabilities and behavior may evolve with future releases, so this should not be considered definitive or set in stone. For the latest supported capabilities, always refer to the official product documentation.
| Capability | VM Apps | All Apps |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioning Capabilities | VMs and XaaS | VMs, Kubernetes Clusters, Pods, XaaS |
| VM Template Source | VM Templates or Content Library | Supervisor VM Image Repository (Content Library) |
| Consumption Method | Self-Service Catalog, Forms, Blueprints | Blueprints, Wizards, YAML, kubectl CLI |
| Guest Customization | Customization Specifications (Linux & Windows) | Cloud-init (Linux-friendly, limited Windows support) |
| Orchestrator Support | Embedded or External — multiple Orchestrators | External Only — single Orchestrator |
| Orchestrator Plugin | Mature SDK Plugin Support | Mainly REST Support |
| Multi-Fleet Provisioning Support | Yes | No |
| Public Cloud Support | Yes | No |
| Advanced Use-Case Support | No (Yes if built custom workflows) | Yes — Private AI, Database Services/DSM, K8s-native use cases |
| IP Management | Native & External IPAM integrations supported | Built-in IP Pools / IPAM support in 9.1 |
| Active Directory Integration | Supported via Integrations and workflows | Only via workflows |
| Post-Provision Automation | Extensive via EBS, Workflows and Cloud-Init | Cloud-Init |
| Legacy vCenter / ESXi Support | Supports 9.x, 8.x & 7.x | Only 9.x |
| Networking | Traditional vSphere Networks, NSX Segments | Kubernetes Networking, VPCs, T0, T1’s |
| Day-2 Operations | Full Orchestrator extensibility — mount disks, install software, configure services, etc. | Limited in 9.1 — primarily basic network-related operations |
| Ansible Integration | Existing Ansible Playbooks can be used as Catalog Self-Service Items | No Native Support |
| Workload Mobility | Yes — VM failover | Limited and complex — Namespace failover |
| Tenancy Model | Soft Multi-Tenancy — Projects, Groups | Hard Multi-Tenancy — Organizations, Namespaces, VPCs |
| ServiceNow ITSM Plugin Support | Yes | No |
| Terraform Support | Yes — 1 provider | Yes — 3 providers in total |
| Support Upgrade from 8.x | Yes | No |
| Custom Form Inputs | Yes (can have non-blueprint linked inputs) | No — Custom Form is linked to Blueprint |
| vRA 8 Migration Complexity | Existing vRA users can migrate relatively easily | Requires an operational and cultural shift |
| Best Fit Use Cases | Enterprise VM provisioning, Windows workloads, legacy applications | Cloud-native applications, Kubernetes workloads, developer self-service |
| Inter-conversion | Yes (traditional VMs to VM Service based VMs) | No |
Discover more from Cloud Blogger
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
