It seems as though announcements involving VMware Inc.’s private cloud technology are coming on a daily basis. On Tuesday, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. rolled out a composable infrastructure for VMware private clouds. This followed the news last week that CenturyLink Inc. will be integrating more of VMware’s software-defined data center offerings in its private cloud. And Rackspace Inc. just extended its private cloud partnership with VMware.

VMware is also extending its private cloud expertise inside the Dell EMC corporate family. “We’re extending the cloud now to Dell Technologies. Imagine how much leverage you get from EMC and Dell data centers when you extend the private cloud. For a company like us, it’s a sure bet,” said Bask Iyer (pictured), chief information officer and executive vice president of VMware and Dell Technologies Inc.

Iyer visited with theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, and spoke with co-hosts John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante) at this week’s VMworld 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They discussed reasons for the growth of the private cloud, cost factors and the need for an efficient management infrastructure that can handle Internet of Things-generated data. (* Disclosure below.)

Majority of VMware customers in private cloud

A 10-year forecast from Wikibon Research shows that the true private cloud will grow at 33 percent compound annual growth rate while infrastructure as a service for the public cloud will increase only 15 percent. VMware’s experience internally and with its own customers is currently following that trend.

“I see the private cloud growing. A big majority of VMware computers run on a private cloud,” Iyer said.

Despite the momentum toward the private cloud, many CIOs are still wrestling with the decision to convert. The difficulty of migrating legacy applications, such as multiple enterprise resource plannings, and regulatory issues can complicate the process for IT executives. One factor influencing the private cloud decision is often the potential to save expenses.

“If you run a good private cloud, the costs are going to be better for you,” Iyer explained. “Get it automated. Then the scale comes up and your cost comes down.”

Another factor that could influence a continued shift to the private cloud is the growing need to manage sensor-driven data from IoT devices. The IoT data management market alone is predicted to reach $66 billion over the next five years.

“You’d better have a good private cloud story for IoT. My message is here’s a great opportunity to get ahead, so don’t miss it,” Iyer concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMworld 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for VMworld 2017. Neither VMware Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE