The transition to cloud computing requires a lot of different pieces, including networking security and virtualization, all moving toward a common goal. Alan Cohen (pictured), chief commercial officer of Illumio Inc., shared his view on what it means to be fully cloud native, including an analogy to hybrid vs. all-electric vehicles.

“This cloud movement is about electricity, which is, ‘I’m going to use cloud-native controls; I’m going to use cloud-native services; I’m going to be using Python and Ruby; and I’m going to use scripting and act like DevOps,” Cohen said. “When you’re in your virtualization on top of cloud, you’re still in your Chevy Volt moment. But when you say I’m actually going to be native across all of these environments, then you’re really getting into your Tesla moment.” 

Cohen spoke with host John Furrier (@furrier) and guest host Justin Warren (@jpwarren) on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during this year’s VMworld in Las Vegas, Nevada. They discussed the nuances of the industry shift toward cloud computing. (* Disclosure below.)

Extending network virtualization into the cloud

Discussing the evolution of network virtualization in the cloud, Cohen pointed out that VMware Inc.’s acquisition of software-defined networking technology company Nicira in 2012 allowed VMware to continue providing full operational control of its virtualized computing assets in the cloud. This strategic move has payed off as the shift to cloud continues today according to Cohen, who was vice president of marketing for Nicira at the time of the acquisition.

“… There’s a recognition that the network component, which is what really NSX represents, is the part that’s going to allow [VMware] to transcend the traditional software-defined data center. … We’ve left the software-defined data center, we’ve moved to this cloud era and for [VMware] NSX is their driving force on being able to extend the VMware control plane into environments they used to never play in before,” Cohen said.

As far as ever-growing cloud security practices, there are security measures that are less dependent on the capability of the network but instead rely on smarter, segmented endpoints to prevent spread of malware, according to Cohen.

“… Your practices, if they occur, they will reduce the risk profile. … Movements like [VMware’s] AppDefense — or micro-segmentation from Illumio and VMware — are the kind of new hygiene and new practices that are going to reduce [the spread of malware],” Cohen 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