VMware Explore: AI, VDC, sovereign Cloud, and Edge Computing

December 8, 2023

Once again, VMware celebrated the EMEA (Europe, Middle-East, and Africa) edition of its VMware Explore event in Barcelona, formerly known as VMworld. Held at the Fira de Barcelona, thousands of attendees got first-hand insights into VMware's latest product developments and its vision for the future of technology and innovation. It was also an excellent opportunity to learn from customer experiences and other industry providers.

During the General Session, Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, took the stage. He stressed VMware's innovation capabilities and pledged to increase resources to maintain the company's innovative tradition and commitment to its partners.

VMware was the pioneer in developing computer virtualization technology and remains the reference in enterprise environments. Over time, through its own capabilities and a slew of acquisitions like DynamicOps, NCIRA, Airwatch, CloudHealth, VeloCloud, Heptio, Bitnami, Pivotal, and Carbon Black, VMware has built an extensive portfolio of Cloud Computing solutions.

VMware's strategy revolves around positioning itself in Cross Cloud solutions, enabling workload management across different cloud and on-premise environments.

◾ One of the overarching themes of this edition was the impact of VMware's acquisition by Broadcom. Although it couldn't be executed on the originally planned date of November 1st due to regulatory and competition authority delays, some indicators of impending changes started to emerge. Finally, on November 22nd, after the event concluded, the last pending approval was received, and the acquisition was completed.

Our participation in VMware Explorer 2023

As in previous years, Telefónica Tech participated in various sessions at the event, showcasing our collaborative work with VMware.

Telefónica is the leading Cloud Provider with VMware technology on the Spanish market. The alliance with VMware has been fruitful for over 10 years, including services like Virtual Data Center (VDC), a reference in VMware service solutions.

Telefónica Tech continues to strengthen its alliance with VMware to deliver innovative solutions to our customers to support their businesses.

Our colleague Miguel Gómez, Technical Product Manager at Telefónica Tech, participated in the roundtable discussion at the Sovereign Cloud Summit. VMware's ecosystem service providers could learn about our experience, along with the experiences of other providers participating in VMware's Sovereign Cloud Program.

Miguel Gómez, Technical Product Manager at Telefónica Tech, in the roundtable discussion at the Sovereign Cloud Summit.

Some of the highlights from the roundtable included the importance of ensuring data sovereignty for government and regulated clients, as well as the challenges faced by clients and providers in offering such solutions.

Our commitment to VDC (Virtual Data Center)

Within the broader context of Explore, and open to all participants, Miguel shared the stage with Madhup Gulati, Senior Director of Product Management for the Cloud Providers business unit, in the session titled "How VMware innovation is shaping Global Market Agendas with Sovereign Cloud." During this session, Miguel discussed Telefónica Tech's experience, where VDC has become the cornerstone of our sovereign cloud proposal.

VDC is the only solution in our Cloud portfolio that covers scenarios involving the protection of confidential, secret, and top-secret information. Miguel also presented some ongoing developments, such as Bring Your Own Encryption and Confidential Computing with Intel SGX.

In another session, Fernando Bertrán, Head of Cloud Services Platform Operations at Telefónica Tech, presented the panels conducted by our colleagues using the Aria Operations tool. He was joined by Galina Kostova, Product Line Manager for Cloud Operations at VMware.

Fernando Bertrán, Head of Cloud Services Platform Operations at Telefónica Tech

Aria Operations assists VDC platform operation groups in managing VMware infrastructure. It will soon be offered to our customers as an additional capability to monitor and optimize their infrastructure.

VMware Private AI: Secure and Private Generative Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence played a prominent role in both general and technical sessions. The partnership with NVIDIA, particularly the announcement of VMware Private AI, was a highlight. This solution will make Generative Artificial Intelligence accessible to our customers in a secure and private environment.

For several editions now, VMware has been committed to a MultiCloud or Cross-Cloud approach, recognizing the heterogeneity of customer environments and offering cross-cutting solutions for managing infrastructure, from on-premise environments to VMware technology-based clouds like VDC and hyperscalers.

Another area where VMware is strongly investing is in cloud-native applications, with Tanzu as its proposal for container development using Kubernetes, aiming to bridge the worlds of virtualization and containers.

VMware drives sovereign Cloud and Edge Computing

As mentioned earlier, VMware's commitment to sovereign Cloud is evident, with the development of a specific program for service providers like Telefónica Tech.

Through this program, they are helping to position a distinctive proposal against hyperscalers, fully aligned with the European Union's data sovereignty strategy.

Edge Computing also had a presence, with new orchestration and integration solutions with Cloud offerings. Edge Computing allows companies to decentralize data processing and bring it closer to devices and end-users, improving response times.

Miguel Gomez speaks at VMware Explore 2023 about Sovereign Cloud

Furthermore, Edge Computing offers increased data security and privacy by avoiding sensitive information transmission to the cloud. It also provides increased flexibility and scalability by enabling workload distribution between the cloud and edge devices. This is particularly useful in cases where Edge AI or real-time data processing is required, such as in manufacturing, logistics, or healthcare.

However, it wasn't all technical sessions and meetings. There was also the opportunity to visit the exhibition area, where a diverse range of companies showcased specific solutions for the VMware ecosystem. Additionally, there were networking opportunities at various events tailored for event participants, VMware Iberia customers, and global service providers.

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VMware is part of the Telefónica Tech partner ecosystem, the network of alliances that allows us to develop the most advanced solutions on the market for our clients.