VMworld is virtual this year, not the most ideal, but under the circumstances, it’s the right thing to do. It’s up to us as a community to make the best of it and find fresh ways to engage with one another.
The theme for VMworld 2020 is “Together, Anything is Possible.” I think it’s fitting considering the times we are in. The VMware strategy is “we deliver the digital foundation for an unpredictable world.” That strategy is built on the following five areas:
- App Modernization
- Multi-Cloud
- Digital Workspace
- Virtual Cloud Networking
- Intrinsic Security
Before we jump into the specific announcements, If you have attended VMworld live, you know that I take a lot of selfies with the community. It has become a tradition and a fun way to document the event. I was disappointed that it would not happen this year, but thanks to several folks in the community, we may have done the first virtual selfie from VMworld.
Thank Jonathan Frappier, Valdecir (Homelaber) Carvalho, Mike Preston and Al Rasheed for connecting with me and taking a selfie.
App Modernization
The big news was that vSphere was re-architected to include Kubernetes at the core. What we knew as project Pacific is now available. VMware wants vSphere to be the best place to run both virtualized apps and containerized apps.
The next re-architecture of vSphere is Project Monterey. This is in partnership with NVIDIA. It’s a new architecture based on SmartNIC technology. This next-generation infrastructure will position you to run those high-throughput and data-intensive apps like AI and ML.
VMware is bringing the NVIDIA AI computing platform and AI application framework to vSphere, Cloud Foundation and Tanzu.
You should take some time over the next year to get familiar with AI, ML, and NVIDIA technology. Join some forums, follow some blogs and immerse yourself in the jargon so you are prepared for what’s next.
VMware also announced its intent to acquire SaltStack, a pioneer in building intelligent, event-driven automation software.
Multi-Cloud
VMware is continuing to see growth in VMware Cloud on AWS along with other cloud partners (Google, Oracle, Alibaba, IBM, and Microsoft). We now have Tanzu support for VMware Cloud on AWS. There is also preview support for Google VMware Engine and Oracle Cloud VMware solution.
Microsoft Azure solution is available. You can integrate with the Azure console which should help with administration.
Virtual Cloud Networking
Not sure how many of you are running SD-WAN, but there are several enchantments. VMware announced VMware Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
VMware SASE includes integration of zero trust access with workspace one plus the NSX firewall and a new partnership with Zscaler.
What is VMware SASE: The VMware SASE Platform is the secure access service edge (SASE) platform that converges industry-leading cloud networking and cloud security to deliver flexibility, agility, security, and scale for enterprises of all sizes. The VMware SASE Platform is offered as-a-service, helping offload IT, staff, from deploying and maintaining WAN/security and saving enterprises’ operational costs.
These are four components of the VMware SASE Platform:
- VMware SD-WAN
- VMware Secure Access
- VMware Cloud Web Security
- VMware NSX CloudTM Firewall
Intrinsic Security
Security is top of mind for many enterprises. Having a consistent security profile for all your data and apps is important. VMware Carbon Black Cloud Workload is a tool to harden and configure your virtual workloads and it’s integrated into vSphere with no agents to install or manage.
VMware customers can get a free trial of Carbon Black Cloud Workload available for the next six months, and you can extend it if needed.
Digital Workspace
The VMware Future Ready Workforce solutions are the combination of Workspace One, SD-WAN by Velo Cloud and Carbon Black Endpoint combined with zero-trust security. This should make remote users feel confident and secure.
I know there was a lot shared at this year’s VMworld. I only touched on a few highlights. You can catch a more in-depth summary from the VMworld 2020 Announcement Summary blog.
What stood out for you at this year’s VMworld? Is there something you were hoping to see this year? Let me know on Twitter and thanks for reading.