MacStadium Announces Transition Path from VMware to Orka Platform

MacStadium announced its Orka Platform is the optimal choice for companies that must transition from VMware’s vSphere ESXi running macOS on last generation Intel-based Mac computers. Since VMware’s announcement in October that it will not make the jump into supporting Apple silicon-based machines, leading teams are switching from VMware for iOS and/or macOS app development to Orka Platform to support the newest versions of macOS and Xcode.

“Orka Platform represents the perfect tool for application development teams who rely on using virtualized Mac compute and must now move on from VMware,” said Greg McGraw, MacStadium co-founder and CEO. “MacStadium already has helped leading organizations seamlessly transition to Orka Platform from VMware. Orka Platform supports Apple silicon, and the MacStadium team will assist those making the migration with a customized proof-of-concept environment, as well as all the technical support they require.”

Benefits of Orka Platform

Orka Platform supplies developers with everything they need to replace the vSphere ESXi workloads on Mac platforms, that currently run on the 2018 Mac mini or older Intel-based Mac machines.

Other bonuses offered by Orka Platform for customers who for years have used VMware on MacStadium’s private cloud to virtualize macOS for app development and testing include:

• macOS orchestration and life cycle management in a cloud environment on genuine Apple hardware.
• High-performance virtual macOS environments in seconds for tasks such as fully integrated, complex automated CI/CD pipelines.
• Easy orchestration through Orka Platform’s RESTful API.
• Enterprise-grade performance with a lightweight build specifically for Mac.
• The use of Kubernetes, so it’s highly scalable and able to support enterprise-level workflows.

“Everyone who has to deal with macOS automation would love a Google Cloud or AWS for macOS,” said Mike McQuaid, project leader at Homebrew, a free and open-source software package manager that used VMware for years before transitioning to Orka Platform. “I feel like Orka is the closest thing that you can get to that. You’re able to spin up and spin down VMs using an easy-to-use CLI or API.”

Orka Platform Transition Process

The average customer transition time from VMware to Orka Platform is 30 days. The actual transition period will depend on the infrastructure size and current-script complexity.

MacStadium’s process will:

• Provide a 14-day, risk-free sandbox environment to test your CI/CD tools and process.
• Include access to a dedicated team of experts who have already helped large and small customers transition to Orka Platform from VMware.
• Keep your VMware environment for 30 days to guarantee a frictionless shift.
• Enable your team to update CI/CD scripts to use Orka API.
• Replicate VMware images to Orka images.

Orka Platform’s disruptive technology provides a software layer that eliminates demanding manual configuration and maintenance on repetitive processes. Because Orka Platform is not vertical-industry specific, it may assist any organization that builds and maintains iOS or macOS applications, with simplified and secure orchestration of MacOS in a cloud environment. Orka Platform is endlessly scalable, providing support as DevOps and development teams at enterprise-level organizations grow.