VMware PEX 2014 General Session: EUC, Hybrid Cloud, SDDC

VMware (VMW) this week at Partner Exchange 2014 (PEX 2014) shouted end user computing (EUC), hybrid cloud computing and software-defined data center (SDDC) from the rooftops as its focus areas in 2014. But, for most partners, this strategy may sound familiar. That's because it is.

Why hasn't the virtualization company changed its priorities for 2014? VMware's answer: These three priorities make up a $50 billion market opportunity in 2016. Does that number sound good to you?

Here's a quick recap of what partners may have missed during the first day of general session:

VMware Channels and Alliances SVP Dave O'Callaghan (on his journey with partners)

• O'Callaghan said he's been speaking with partners over the past year, understanding how to make them successful. While the last 10 years have been great to VMware, he said, the next 10 years "will be even better."
• The software-defined decade will be for the next 10 years, O'Callaghan noted.
• VMware connects its technology partners with its business units to create solutions. The virtualization company's solutions are then brought to market through its distribution supply chain and out for sale through strategic alliances, solution providers and service providers.
• He said there are more than 833 service providers in attendance at PEX 2014.
• During his time speaking with partners, O'Callaghan said, he learned partners want to see more road maps from VMware; they want doing business with VMware to be easier; and, most importantly, partners want to be more profitable.

VMware President and COO Carl Eschenbach (on what VMware has done for partners)

• "We, collectively, are growing in the industry," Eschenbach said, pointing out that 85 percent of VMware's revenue is generated through partners. 
• He said that VMware is, and will continue to be, "a channel-led company," noting that partners are not an extension of the company's salesforce.
• In 2013, VMware put more than $300 million in partners, he noted. Throughout 2013, VMware unveiled 234 new releases of software code and eight major and beta launches, he said.
• Eschenbach also recognized VMware's acquisition of Desktone, Virsto, AirWatch—“the industry leader in mobile management and security."
• VMware’s three key priorities for 2014 include end user computing, software-defined data center and hybrid cloud computing—VMware's same priorities as last year.
• He said these three priorities make up a $50 billion market opportunity in 2016.
• The software-defined enterprise is what’s next for VMware, Eschenbach noted.
• Bridging the gap between the software-defined enterprise consists of end user computing, applications, policy-based management and automation, virtualized infrastructure and physical hardware, he said.
• “There are no boundaries in the software-defined data center," Eschenbach said.
• “In the future, we will only live in the hybrid world,” he said.
• According to him, more than 65 percent of storage in the data center was sold through partners.
• Eschenbach noted that there's a $100 billion opportunity in cloud services and technology in 2014 for VMware and partners.
• VMware wants to see partners specialize, get enabled and gain new competencies, he said.
• “All of these investments that we’re making is to support partners and promote success to partners," Eschenbach said.
• VMware has the right technology for the next big market transition, the right operating model, and the right partners to deliver to build the software-defined data enterprise, he concluded.

VMware Cloud Management Senior VP and General Manager Ramin Sayar (on partners and cloud)

• There are more than 3,00 partners selling cloud management and about 2,500 enrolled in the management competency, he noted.
• VMware saw a more than 40 percent year-over-year license revenue growth in VMware cloud management from 2012-2013, Sayar said.
• According to VMware, it owns 20.5 percent of cloud systems management vendor market shares in 2012.
• Partners can sell IT as a service throughout an organization, selling to IT finance departments, ops teams, end user teams, etc.
• According to Sayar, cloud management is ready for the vCloud Hybrid Service.
• "The most important part of the hybrid cloud is that it needs to be compatible,” he said.
• There’s a great market opportunity in cloud system infrastructure services, he noted, pointing to a $31 billion opportunity in 2017.
• There are more than 1.3 million vSphere licenses, he said.
• Sayar said partners should expect VMware to get into managed services: hybrid management, DaaS and disaster recovery.
• Your hybrid strategy depends on the type of partner you are, he said.

VMware CTO Ben Fathi (on the software-defined data center and a partner's journey with VMware)

• VMware and channel partners have to be aligned on the same journey, Fathi said.
• According to him, an IT infrastructure must have virtualization, IT management and hybrid cloud compatibility.
• VMware coined the term "software-defined data center" in 2012, he said, and it became a reality in 2013, but 2014 is the tipping point, when SDDC goes mainstream.
• He said SDDC is a bigger opportunity for partners, a greater share of IT wallet.
• SDDC is made up of simply four parts: compute, networking, storage, management—and VMware is touching every angle, he said. 
• Three of the top five investment banks have deployed VMware NSX, Fathi said, but VMware needs help from partners to place NSX in every software-defined data center.
• To make SDDC real in 2014, VMware will offer career paths to expert certifications and new business opportunities, and deliver new reference designs and guides for networking, he said.
• Fathi noted key drivers of change in the storage market include server flash, falling storage prices and cloud economics.
• VMware has developed Virtual SAN, policy-based management, for the software-defined storage. What partners need to know about Virtual SAN, he said: It runs on standard servers, it's embedded in vSphere and offers storage policy-based management, flash accelerated, great performance, lower TCO.
• "vSAN is gaining a lot of momentum," he said.
• Partners will hear a lot more about vSAN at PEX and in Q1, when it will become generally available to partners.
• “It’s time to master the new reality in storage," he said.

Keep checking back to The VAR Guy for more updates from PEX 2014 in San Francisco (where the weather has been a lot nicer than what some of us are used to in the Northeast).

Follow CJ Arlotta on Twitter @cjarlotta for further updates on the story above.