Broadcom: ‘The Future of Business is Private’
We attended a new edition of VMware Explore in Barcelona, the first after its acquisition by Broadcom. The VMware Cloud Foundation platform has become the main protagonist.
The VMware Explore conference is being held in Barcelona these days. This is the first edition since the purchase of VMware by Broadcom a year ago.
During this time we have had little news about the manufacturer that we had been following closely for almost two decades, a fact caused by Broadcom’s rather poor media strategy.
However, on the occasion of the North American edition of VMware Explore in August, communication with the specialised media and analysts has been reactivated. One example of this is the invitation Silicon received a few weeks ago to cover the European edition in Barcelona for yet another year… and that’s more than ten years since the event landed in Barcelona. With the exception of the two years that it was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this publication has been here uninterruptedly to bring our readers all the news shown by the solutions manufacturer.
Private cloud, private AI and private data: this is what the future of business will look like
This year saw a continuation of the releases showcased during the North American edition of VMware Explore, as well as a strong focus on the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform, which has become a priority for Hok Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom, as we will see below.
The head of Broadcom decided to regroup several products to unify services through a single platform, VCF, a move that has generated different responses from the industry, including the partner ecosystem.
Not surprisingly, this unification will begin to be seen in VCF 9, which will be generally available in the near future. The move from the recently announced VCF 5.2.1 directly to VCF 9 responds precisely to this important unification of services on the same platform, which implies, among other things, a change in the licensing model, which we will analyse shortly.
For Tan, the innovation that has been taking place in data centres has been slow, precisely because of the silos that are generated in terms of computing, storage and networks. The unification of the different services in VCF aims to make things easier for companies on several fronts, but especially when it comes to deploying new private cloud services without having to use more or less independent products, but rather everything can be orchestrated from the platform.
As Tan explained, there has been a recent shift back to private environments. Reports show that more than 80% of companies plan to repatriate resources currently in the public cloud to a greater or lesser extent back to their private environments. It’s a message that VMware has always been making known as part of its commitment to the private cloud, but it makes more sense now: according to VMware, the public cloud is not always cheap, nor does it have the same standards as the private cloud when it comes to maintaining corporate data sovereignty.
Key announcements from VMware Explore 2024
Broadcom has announced a series of updates and advanced services for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), its private cloud platform, aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence, improving cyber resilience and fostering digital sovereignty for its customers. VCF offers enterprises the scalability and flexibility of a public cloud along with the high levels of security, performance and control of a private cloud, enabling organisations to manage their data and infrastructure more efficiently.
New VMware Cloud Foundation capabilities are now available in versions 5.2 and 5.2.1. VMware Cloud Foundation Advanced Services, a set of ready-to-deploy solutions that enable customers to drive innovation in their private cloud environments and accelerate the deployment of generative AI-based applications and cybersecurity services.
In addition, Broadcom has announced new alliances with technology partners, which facilitate the deployment of sovereign clouds and enhance the integration of VMware Cloud Foundation in data centres, hyperscale and edge environments. According to Krish Prasad, senior vice president of the VCF division at Broadcom, ‘VMware Cloud Foundation brings the private cloud everywhere with a flexible, ubiquitous and secure platform designed to unlock the potential of AI in the enterprise.’
New data services with Tanzu Data Services for VMware Cloud Foundation
Broadcom has also introduced Tanzu Data Services for VMware Cloud Foundation, a set of advanced services designed to simplify the deployment and management of critical data. These services include support for databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, as well as messaging systems such as RabbitMQ and Valkey. With Tanzu Data Services, Broadcom improves the security and operational efficiency of AI applications, enabling more agile data processing and better lifecycle management of critical data services.
Enhanced Cyber Resilience: Comprehensive Security and Recovery
With the goal of improving resilience to cyber-attacks, Broadcom has integrated VMware Live Recovery with Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE), providing a target Isolated Recovery Environment (IRE) for VCF workloads. This functionality enables simplified and secure recovery for both natural disasters and cyber attacks in on-premises and Google Cloud environments.
In addition, Broadcom has launched VMware vDefend for VMware Cloud Foundation, which now includes Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)-based assistance through Intelligent Assist. This security ‘co-pilot’ can help ICT teams proactively identify threats and prioritise solutions, reducing the number of false positives and accelerating incident response.
Expansion of generative AI services and private cloud modernisation programme
Broadcom has extended its private AI strategy, which focuses on privacy and control over data. Integration with Microsoft’s Azure AI Video Indexer enables VMware Private AI, based on VCF, to perform video and audio analytics for generative AI projects in data centres and the edge, facilitating greater flexibility and shorter deployment times for enterprise AI projects.
Benefits for VMware professionals through VMUG Advantage
The company is offering exclusive benefits for professionals who subscribe to VMUG Advantage, VMware’s global user group. Members will be able to get a 50% discount on VMware Cloud Foundation certification exams (VCP and VCAP) and, once certified, will have access to a free three-year VCF licence for personal use.
During VMware Explore we also had the opportunity to chat with María José Talavera, Managing Director of Broadcom for Spain. This meeting allowed us to learn about the company’s transition over the last year and the key strategies it will promote in the future. We will be reporting on this in Silicon shortly.
