![](https://d15shllkswkct0.cloudfront.net/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/05/christianpurdie.com-684A1154.jpg)
![](https://d15shllkswkct0.cloudfront.net/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/05/christianpurdie.com-684A1154.jpg)
This Harvard Business School graduate is on a mission for VMware Inc.: to introduce the VMware NSX virtualization solution to all of the company’s 500,000 global customer.
“… Our core principles at VMware have not changed. We’re really focused on software defining the data center. Why? Because it makes you more agile, removes costs, reduces complexity, makes the planet more green,” said Sanjay Poonen, chief operating officer of VMware. Speaking about the VMware product line acquired in the Dell-EMC merger, Poonen recognizes the importance of reassuring customers of VMware’s core principles despite the new ownership.
Poonen spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the Dell Technologies World event in Las Vegas. They discussed the future of networking and virtualization. (* Disclosure below.)
When he was called upon to lead up the VMware team four and half years ago, it was a new challenge for Poonen to see how networking is changing the landscape for businesses.
“The future of networking is going to be software-defined. And it’s much the same way as Tesla is transforming the automotive industry, right? … It’s not just the hardware; it’s the software that’s changing the way in which you drive, park, all of the mapping. … We believe the same way the networking industry is going to go through a mighty revolution,” he explained.
Poonen’s three priorities as COO include: to make the data center feel like a private cloud; to extend services to the hybrid cloud; and to ensure all types of devices are secured.
“We’ve taken what were headwinds to us, VMware, over the last four or five years and made them tailwinds. And for us that’s been a tremendous learning lesson,” he concluded.
Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Dell Technologies World 2018 event. (* Disclosure: Dell EMC sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Dell EMC nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)
THANK YOU