[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)] Cisco will launch its application-specific hypervisor, NFVIS-for-UC, within the current quarter.

Techzine reported NFVIS-for-UC is focused on companies seeking to virtualise Cisco communications solutions such as Unified Communications Manager (CUCM). It provides an environment to run Cisco applications without VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF).

Cisco has asked customers to run applications such as CUCM on virtual machines, and VMware has served as the standard platform. After Broadcom acquired VMware and forced VCF bundles, customer burdens increased, leading to demand for alternatives.

NFVIS-for-UC is based on NFVIS technology Cisco has used for network functions virtualisation, and it applies a new management interface.

At this point, Cisco has no plan to target the general-purpose hypervisor market. Cisco has also added support for the Nutanix AHV hypervisor and is developing a VMware replacement stack with Nutanix and Pure Storage.

An application-specific hypervisor strategy is not new. Citrix has a precedent of shifting to an application-specific approach after exiting the general-purpose hypervisor market.

As it targets only customers of its own products, VMware and Nutanix are unlikely to view Cisco's move as a threat. Broadcom, which has integrated VMware, is targeting large customers fully adopting Cloud Foundation, and the competitive landscape is different.