Cloud Channel Summit: VMware Partner Strategy Update?
At Cloud Channel Summit 2013 (Nov. 4, Mountain View, Calif.), VMware (VMW) Channel Chief Dave O’Callaghan appears poised to discuss the company’s accelerating software defined data center (SDDC) strategy, along with the expanding vCloud Hybrid Service. Here’s a few hunches about what he’ll cover.
O’Callaghan is expected to have a fireside chat with Jeff Kaplan, the conference’s founder and host. In recent months, O’Callaghan has been educating VMware partners about virtualization extending from servers to networking and storage. The long-term goal: Empower customers with converged data centers that are easier to deploy, manage and scale — using SDDC technology.
At the same time, O’Callaghan has been educating VARs and partners about vCloud Hybrid Service — which allows customers to move workloads from their on-premises data centers to VMware’s cloud services. vCloud Hybrid Service launched in September 2013, and is expanding to Europe now.
Some critics wonder if VMware can maintain its momentum amid Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization moves plus public cloud alternatives from Amazon, Microsoft, Rackspace and more. But take a closer look and you’ll see that VMware’s financial performance has remained strong, and the company’s long-term outlook impressed Wall Street in October 2013.
Next up, O’Callaghan will address cloud questions and opportunities at Cloud Channel Summit. The VAR Guy will be listening closely for clues about VMware’s next moves — and associated partner opportunities.