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VMware and NVIDIA Announce First Participants in Tech Preview of NVIDIA GRID vGPU

Airbus, CH2MHILL, MetroHealth Among Initial Customers to Use Virtualized GPUs for Delivering Rich Graphics Applications Into Secure Virtual Workspaces

BARCELONA, SPAIN--(Marketwired - Oct 14, 2014) - Airbus Group, CH2MHILL and MetroHealth are among the first companies to join VMware and NVIDIA's early access program to try the latest technology for GPU virtualization and virtual application and desktop infrastructure, ahead of its general availability.

Customers selected to participate in the early access program have deployed a technology preview of the solution. They get to work directly with the engineering teams from both NVIDIA and VMware, and provide direct input about their experiences -- influencing future products, training, documentation and services. Interested parties can register for the program at www.nvidia.com/grid-vmware-vgpu.

NVIDIA GRID vGPU technology allows multiple virtual machines to share the power of a single GPU to deliver rich graphics experiences with professional 2D and 3D applications. Combined with VMware Horizon, the technology can deliver a great user experience and the scalability that IT teams require for the most demanding users in their organizations.

Early Customer Reactions
Initial users of the technology include Airbus, the European aircraft-manufacturing giant; CH2MHILL, a global construction and engineering firm; and MetroHealth, a major healthcare provider.

"Airbus decided to implement virtual desktops to streamline end-user access and easily enable suppliers to access major applications supporting Airbus aircraft development. We're strongly interested in using VMware Horizon with NVIDIA GRID vGPU to offer a scalable and cost-effective solution. The power of the combined offering will allow us to achieve even more efficient business cases."

- Philippe Muhlhause, Head of EE M&A Architecture and Standards, Airbus

"We've had great success to date testing GRID vGPU. The vGPU technology improves scalability and performance for our high-end design engineers, and promises to give a fluid experience to anyone in our company. We are confident that it is now finally economically viable for CH2MHILL to provide a VDI farm for graphically demanding workloads across the globe. This could truly transform the way we do business."

- Craig Fletcher, chief technology officer at CH2MHILL

"With GRID vGPU, the graphical compute demands our applications require work exactly as expected, but can now be delivered with VMware Horizon® instead of a physical desktop. This is a key development that brings us one large step closer to delivering on the promise of virtualizing the desktop for all of our users."

- Aivars Apsite, technology strategist of MetroHealth

Availability
This is a limited access program for organizations worldwide that meet certain requirements, including being a current VMware Horizon and NVIDIA GRID customer. Additional requirements and more information are available on the early access program website.

Earlier this year at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference, NVIDA and VMware announced their intention to collaborate to bring NVIDIA GRID vGPU to VMware products. A technology preview of GRID vGPU combined with VMware solutions was showcased at the VMworld conference in San Francisco.

"Through this technology preview, we are looking to learn from organizations on how we can continue to provide them greater value through best-in-class solutions. Participants in the early access program are in the unique position of being part of the solution development process, giving them a competitive and first-mover advantage," said Erik Frieberg, vice president, Product Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware. "This joint offering promises to provide customers and service providers with high performance for complex and graphics-intensive applications."

"Global manufacturing, design and engineering businesses are putting vGPU on VMware Horizon to the test, running the most sophisticated applications and complex models virtually without compromising the graphics experience," said Jeff Brown, vice president and general manager of Professional Visualization and Design at NVIDIA. "The initial response has been tremendous, and we will continue to work with VMware to help enterprises improve employee productivity and streamline the management of their hardware resources."

To Keep Current on NVIDIA GRID and VMware Horizon:

About NVIDIA
Since 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has pioneered the art and science of visual computing. The company's technologies are transforming a world of displays into a world of interactive discovery -- for everyone from gamers to scientists, and consumers to enterprise customers. More information at http://nvidianews.nvidia.com and http://blogs.nvidia.com.

About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the expected availability and features of GRID vGPU for sharing with VMware virtual machines, its potential benefits and the potential benefits of GRID on VMware Horizon DaaS to customers and partners and the significance of visual virtual computing to customers. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to (i) changes to priorities and levels of government spending; (ii) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (iii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iv) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization, end user and cloud computing markets, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (v) our customers' ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and DaaS; (vi) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vii) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (viii) changes to product development timelines; (ix) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; and (xi) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the impact and benefits of NVIDIA GRID vGPU; and the impact and benefits of NVIDIA GRID vGPU technology with the VMware Horizon are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended July 27, 2014. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

VMware and VMware Horizon are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

© 2014 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA GRID and GRID vGPU are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Contact Information:

For further information, contact:
Gail Laguna
Senior PR Manager for Professional Visualization
NVIDIA Corporation
(408) 386-2435
glaguna@nvidia.com

Louis Cheng
VMware Global Communications
(650) 427-7643
chengl@vmware.com