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[A quick sidebar – Virtual Geek remains (and will always remain) my personal blog, not an EMC blog. See the disclaimer :-) It’s not mandatory reading for anyone, period! That said – it’s so linked to my life, and my work/life are all intertwined, so sometimes they connect, and sometimes invariably my thinking is very linked to my work life. This (like the “This I believe” post many moon ago is very linked to what’s going on at work, and an important post, so it’s mirrored up on EMC Reflections here]… On to the dialog, and as always – input, debate always welcome! ------ Is that headline over the top? Perhaps :-) On the other hand, it's obvious when you think about it and also nothing new. It's the short answer to the question, "Chad, why are you incredibly pumped about being the new leader of VCE?" Let's start by really understanding the word platform.
The common pattern? A platform is a foundation, something you consume and build on versus something you decompose. In fact, the core value is that it is not decomposable. It must be used whole. When someone tries to decompose a platform, it loses its value, its purpose, its animus. In the past, the IT platform domains were primarily "server, network, storage, database, client, application, security." Virtualization started the trend of mashing up server/network/storage by making the technical lines dividing those domains very blurry. Public IaaS clouds finished the job, making the dividing lines invisible. SaaS and PaaS models then moved the bar of platform further. In IT, the idea of a platform is nothing new. It’s always existed. So, it's by definition the end game. What is changing - and disrupting massive ecosystems - is where platforms begin and end. Three reasons why I'm so pumped
If you agree with point #1 (the commoditization of components)… …Then the center of the infrastructure universe is at the same place as the center of the universe for making storage/networking/compute convergence the new “commodity” domain. That's at VCE within EMC. This strikes me as the center of that new entity. If you agree with point #2 (the new base commodity layer is converged/hyper-converged)… …Then you want to be at the place that is the clear leader in converged infrastructure. That's clearly VCE. VCE exits FY15 on an even higher run rate than the $2 billion+ we previously disclosed, demonstrating the resonance of the VCE value proposition and the tremendous growth potential of CI. For perspective, one of the other leaders in this space made their current run-rate public in an S-1 filing. It highlights a 4x delta. It also makes clear why everyone would target VCE as a leader in this category and that's OK (competition is good for everyone)! Today, VCE is synonymous with Vblock, which is in the "Block" category of CI. Blocks are an important category and will continue to grow as the best way to support workloads in certain scales, industries and use cases. Vblock is an unquestionable leader in this part of the market - and in 2016 we will DOUBLE DOWN on Vblock with our partner Cisco. If you look at the incredible success VCE had in 2015 – a huge portion of that $2B bookings run rate is directly attributable to the success of Vblock. That formula is a winning formula we have developed and nurtured in partnership with Cisco over 6 years. It is a strong partnership – and one we will be doubling down and investing to grow. Vscale, the Vblock (in particular the VB500), as well as expansion/upgrades/refreshes into the enormous Vblock installed base – these are all areas that benefit EMC, Cisco, and most importantly – the customer. While VSPEX Blue appliances (and their successors), VxRack Systems and Nodes all represent critical new growth engines to the Converged Infrastructure business – let there be no doubt – our partnership with Cisco is central to our Converged Infrastructure plan. BUT likewise, let there be no doubt hyper-converged models (while smaller today) are an area of massive growth. VCE will not rest on the laurels of success in the Block category, rather we will disrupt ourselves to become a leader in hyper-converged Rack scale and Appliance forms of CI. These are different in a ton of ways than the well-established Block CI model (operationally, economically, technologically, and as a business model). Can we do it? Only results speak. Self-disruption is something that needs to be a core competency. VCE has it. We absolutely can be the leader in all three forms of CI (Blocks, Racks, and Appliances). Customers want partners who are more than a one-trick pony and offer a CI portfolio. We plan on doing it and will do it. Period. If you agree with point #3 (turnkey IaaS/PaaS/Data Fabrics are the "emerging commodity layer")… …Then you would want to be in the place where "turnkey buy vs. build" moves to the next level, where you could take the value of an engineered system and make it include engineered solutions. Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure are simply a means to an end for customers. They dream of a turnkey IaaS/PaaS/Data stack. The team that builds solutions like the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud stack, the Federation Business Data Lake, and what we will soon reveal as our solution for new Cloud Native app development - they are part of the same team building converged infrastructure. We can move commoditization further up the stack. We can aggregate, industrialize, and curate the technologies of EMC, VMware and Pivotal. 2015 had a lot of great solutions work - but it still hasn't been turnkey enough, curated enough. We can do that. It will take a little longer - but that's the big opportunity. I can even dream of a day where all IT is consumed as a Platform. VCE is now the Converged Platform Division of EMC. Our mission is simple:
Now, in addition to leading VCE, I continue to lead the EMC Global Systems Engineering community. All of my almost brothers and sisters in the EMC SE team will now be able to tap into the resources of VCE and vice versa. We can get the same 1+1=3 with the sales teams, the engineering teams, the customer service and professional services teams. That is powerful! VCE as the Converged Platform Division is at the center of EMC’s business strategy. Converged Platforms – both Infrastructure (Blocks, Racks, Appliances) and Solutions (IaaS, PaaS, Data Fabrics) are at the center of what customers want – and represent a path towards a simplified and accelerated IT world. It’s an incredible team, an incredible opportunity – and 2016 will be an AWESOME year! I'm PUMPED! Forward-Looking Statement Legend This release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) risks associated with the proposed acquisition of EMC by Denali Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Dell, Inc., including, among others, assumptions related to the ability to close the acquisition, the expected closing date and its anticipated costs and benefits; (ii) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (iii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iv) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (v) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (vi) component and product quality and availability; (vii) fluctuations in VMware, Inc.’s operating results and risks associated with trading of VMware stock; (viii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (ix) risks associated with managing the growth of our business, including risks associated with acquisitions and investments and the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (x) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xi) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (xii) fluctuating currency exchange rates; (xiii) threats and other disruptions to our secure data centers or networks; (xiv) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (xv) war or acts of terrorism; and (xvi) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release. |
