NetApp has acquired JetStream Software, a company specializing in disaster recovery and migration for VMware workloads, in a deal announced on August 6, 2026. The acquisition will let NetApp extend protection beyond environments that already use its storage and make it easier to recover VMware virtual machines onto its own services, such as Azure NetApp Files. The companies have not disclosed the deal’s value.
The NetApp-JetStream deal in 20 seconds
- NetApp has completed the acquisition of JetStream Software and hasn’t disclosed the price.
- JetStream specializes in disaster recovery and migration for VMware environments.
- Its technology can protect workloads running on other vendors’ storage.
- NetApp wants to pair it with SnapMirror and its cloud services.
- The deal makes it easier to use disaster recovery as a first step toward a later migration.
The deal is especially interesting given the moment VMware is going through. Following the commercial and licensing changes after its integration into Broadcom, many organizations are reassessing their virtualization strategy — but reassessing doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning VMware right away. For plenty of companies, there are still hundreds or thousands of virtual machines, critical applications, and operational procedures built around this platform.
NetApp appears to be heading straight for that transition period. Rather than framing this solely as a full migration play, adding JetStream lets it start with a much more immediate problem: how to protect VMware workloads and recover them on other infrastructure when needed.
JetStream extends protection beyond NetApp storage
JetStream Software builds disaster recovery, continuous data protection, and workload mobility technology for VMware.
One of the notable aspects of the acquisition is that its technology doesn’t require the source VMware environment to be running on NetApp storage.
The company explains that, after bringing JetStream on board, it will be able to protect VMware environments running on virtually any storage platform and later recover them using NetApp’s own storage services, including Azure NetApp Files.
That considerably widens the market it can address.
NetApp already has SnapMirror, its technology for replicating data between storage systems and keeping copies used for failure recovery, business continuity, and other protection scenarios.
The acquisition doesn’t replace that technology.
NetApp explicitly states that SnapMirror will remain its preferred replication solution for environments running on NetApp storage. JetStream covers a different space: VMware virtual machines that may sit on third-party storage and need to be moved or protected onto other infrastructure.
The combination addresses two situations.
A customer already on NetApp can keep its SnapMirror-based procedures. Another running VMware on a different storage platform can use JetStream to protect those workloads and later recover them onto NetApp infrastructure.
The strategy lets NetApp get into projects where, until now, the primary storage might have belonged to a different vendor.
Disaster recovery before a move to the cloud
The acquisition also illustrates how some enterprise migration projects are changing.
Moving a critical application from a private data center to the cloud usually isn’t as simple as copying a virtual machine and booting it up somewhere else.
There are dependencies between applications, networks, IP addresses, storage, databases, performance requirements, and recovery procedures that need to hold up throughout the transition.
That’s why NetApp views disaster recovery as a potential first stage of migration.
A company can initially keep its production environment where it is and create a recoverable replica in the cloud. Once procedures, applications, and performance have been validated, that infrastructure, which initially serves as a contingency target, can later become the production environment itself.
JetStream is built around this exact approach.
Its software continuously replicates application data to destinations such as Azure Blob Storage or Azure NetApp Files. The company says its architecture can scale storage independently of compute resources and support recovery objectives close to zero under the right configurations. Those figures depend on the design and resources provisioned for each deployment.
The relationship between JetStream, Microsoft Azure, and NetApp doesn’t start with this acquisition, either.
JetStream was already a NetApp technology partner for VMware workloads and used Azure NetApp Files (ANF) as a storage destination for certain high-performance recovery scenarios. It was also aligned with Azure VMware Solution for disaster recovery and continuous data protection.
NetApp is now bringing that technology in-house directly.
Pravjit Tiwana, senior vice president and general manager of Cloud Storage and Services at NetApp, said when announcing the deal that the goal is to let customers start with disaster recovery and later evolve toward running production in the cloud.
The company also wants its services embedded in the major cloud providers to be able to serve as a destination for enterprise VMware workloads.
NetApp buys technology for a VMware transition period
The move can also be read within a broader transformation of the virtualization market.
Companies currently have several options. They can stick with VMware, renegotiate and reorganize their infrastructure, move certain workloads to the cloud, or look at different platforms altogether.
But a full migration can take months or years.
During that time, organizations still need to protect their existing virtual machines.
The JetStream acquisition lets NetApp take part in that process regardless of what the customer ultimately decides. A company could use the technology to stick with VMware, build an external recovery environment, or gradually shift workloads to cloud infrastructure.
NetApp is in fact avoiding presenting the deal as a bet on VMware’s demise.
The company acknowledges that many businesses continue to run critical applications on VMware and frames the acquisition around protecting and enabling the mobility of those workloads.
It also fits a broader NetApp strategy of expanding beyond the traditional sale of storage systems.
ONTAP and its data services are now embedded across different public clouds. Azure NetApp Files, for example, is a Microsoft Azure service built on NetApp technology and managed from within Microsoft’s own platform.
Adding JetStream now gives it a tool that can help carry workloads toward those destinations.
It’s also NetApp’s second acquisition announced in under a month. On July 16, the company announced the purchase of DataPelago, which specializes in AI data infrastructure. JetStream followed on August 6.
They’re different deals, but they point to an expanding scope of activity.
DataPelago is tied to processing large volumes of data for AI. JetStream focuses on resilience, recovery, and mobility for enterprise workloads.
With VMware specifically, there’s an especially valuable element at play: independence from the source storage.
If JetStream only protected environments built on NetApp, the acquisition would mainly reinforce its existing installed base. Because it can work with VMware running on third-party storage, NetApp gains a way into infrastructure where it currently isn’t the primary vendor.
It can then use Azure NetApp Files or other of its own services as the recovery destination.
The commercial strategy is clear, even though the integration still has to translate into concrete products. NetApp’s announcement includes an explicit disclaimer that any future integrations of JetStream with its portfolio represent a product direction, not a commitment to ship specific features on any particular date.
So it’s worth separating what’s available today from what’s planned.
The acquisition has closed, and JetStream already brings working technology for VMware recovery and migration. Exactly how NetApp folds all of those capabilities into its catalog will take shape over time.
For VMware customers, the move adds another option at a time when many organizations are trying to gain more room to maneuver. Before deciding where they’ll run their virtual machines over the next few years, they can make sure those workloads are recoverable and portable.
And that mobility could end up mattering just as much as the virtualization platform they choose.
Frequently asked questions
What did NetApp acquire?
NetApp acquired JetStream Software, a US company specializing in disaster recovery, data protection, and migration for VMware workloads. The deal’s value hasn’t been made public.
Does JetStream only work with NetApp storage?
No. One of the features NetApp highlights is the ability to protect VMware environments running on virtually any storage platform and later recover them onto NetApp services such as Azure NetApp Files.
Will JetStream replace NetApp SnapMirror?
No. NetApp is keeping SnapMirror as its preferred replication technology for environments already running on NetApp storage. JetStream extends coverage to VMware deployed on third-party storage platforms.
Does the acquisition mean NetApp expects companies to abandon VMware?
NetApp doesn’t frame it that way. The company notes that VMware continues to support numerous critical enterprise applications and presents JetStream as a way to protect those workloads and provide options to recover or gradually migrate them to the cloud.
