At VMware Explore 2026 it was announced that Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE) will soon be available as a self-managed version. This new way to run VMware Cloud Foundation 9 on Google Cloud, is built on the same bare-metal infrastructure Google uses for its own services and certified in partnership with Broadcom. It sits alongside the existing Google-managed GCVE service, now giving customers full administrative control over the VCF stack.
What is GCVE?
Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE) is a Google-architected solution for running VMware Cloud Foundation in Google Cloud. In practice, that means the ability to migrate and run an existing VMware estate in Google Cloud without redesign or redevelopment.
The use cases we see most often:
- Data centre extension. Grow an existing estate into Google Cloud without a wholesale rebuild.
- Business continuity and disaster recovery. Bring the resilience of an on-premises estate into Google Cloud.
- Access to Google’s native AI and data services. Sit VMware workloads next to BigQuery, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and Gemini Enterprise, rather than bolting AI on as a separate project.
More on GCVE and how Xtravirt can help: xtravirt.com/partners/google-cloud
What are the 2 flavours of GCVE?
Flagship offering with VCF 5.2
Google-Managed VMware Engine
Turn-key simplicity with fully automated lifecycle and offloaded maintenance operations
New offering with VCF 9.1
NEW
Self-Managed VMware Engine
Absolute sovereignty with full administrative access and complete control on the entire stack
GA across multiple regions begins Q4
On the new GCVE, teams who’ve wanted more control since it first launched finally get it:
- Full administrative control. Root and hypervisor-level access, so custom configurations and specialist drivers that a managed service would normally block are back on the table.
- Your own lifecycle schedule. Patch, upgrade or freeze versions on your own timeline, not a provider’s maintenance window.
- Native network placement. Runs inside your own virtual private cloud (VPC), cutting out extra peering layers and routing hops to native Google Cloud services.
- Compatibility with existing tools. Backup, disaster recovery and monitoring tools connect directly, with no provider-specific layer in between.
- Licensing on your terms. Bring your own VMware licence (BYOL) and pay Google Cloud only for the bare-metal infrastructure underneath it.
General availability is expected from early Q4, though the exact date is subject to change.
A winning combination
Xtravirt have worked with Google Cloud on GCVE since 2024, when we supported Superdry’s migration: close to 100 servers moved with backup jobs cut from days to minutes, and a 70–80% rise in throughput on key systems.From sign off we built a landing zone and GCVE within two weeks and then migrated the workloads in short bursts around planned change windows to ensure there was no disruption during key retail dates (see the full case study). That work is what our GCVE 123 methodology is built on: a three-step Assess, Pilot, Migrate approach that came from doing a migration, not designing one on a whiteboard.
Self-managed doesn’t change that starting point. If anything, it raises the stakes on getting the assessment right. Full control over your VCF estate is only worth having if someone in your organisation wants that responsibility. For plenty of organisations, the answer will be yes. For others, it’ll be: “we want the flexibility, but we don’t want to be the ones doing the patching at 2am.”
How can Xtravirt help?
The Xtravirt Managed Services team already manage VCF environments day to day: operations, support, lifecycle management, one point of contact instead of several. That covers GCVE too. Whichever way a customer decides to run their VMware estate on Google Cloud, self-managed or otherwise, Xtravirt can be the team behind the scenes keeping it running, so the people who’d rather focus on the business than the patch schedule can do exactly that.
What's next
If you are getting started on GCVE or an existing GCVE customer interested in moving to the self-managed option, talk to Xtravirt. We have proven success in delivering GCVE and our Managed Services allow us to take on the management of VCF on Google Cloud as well. Get in touch or take a look at how we work with Google Cloud.
