Cloud computing has been a consistent theme over the years at VMworld. In this historic moment, cloud is especially significant at a time of increased virtualization. As the need for solid backup and recovery solutions grows, companies are considering radical steps, including taking all of their solutions off-premises and to the cloud. But is that the best tactic?

Companies still need an on-prem solution, according to Denis Kennelly (pictured), general manager of storage at IBM. As 20-25% of the enterprise workload has moved to the cloud, IBM is taking new steps to ensure companies are well-resourced in data storage.

“The storage has a critical role to play . ..especially in the hybrid multicloud world, and we’re making sure that storage is a key enabler on that journey,” Kennelly said.

Kennelly spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during VMworld. They discussed the evolution of the cloud in these uncertain times, the intersection of cloud and cyber, and improvement in IBMs product release rate. (* Disclosure below.)

Cloud strategy is secure storage strategy

VMware and IBM are arguably two companies determined to bring their cloud strategies into greater focus. Both have identified the myriad reasons companies continue to go to the cloud, including “security, compliance, data, privacy … transformation, a lot of other people challenges,” Kennelly said.

As companies are migrating to the cloud, many vendors are still learning how to adapt the enterprise workload to cloud environments. Storage has an important role to play in the journey to the cloud, which is why IBM has concentrated its efforts there.

Nevertheless, the very nature of cloud computing has always faced the vulnerability of cyberattacks and data breaches. It isn’t a question of “if,” but “when” it happens. Accordingly, companies must know how to recover from data breaches as quickly as possible. These actors are primarily searching for data assets.

“That’s where storage has a critical role to play,” Kennelly stated. 

To support recovery from breaches, IBM focuses on base encryption and encryption across all data assets. IBM has taken this approach for years, but now the focus is on enhancing recovery speed. Increasing response time has been a major area of innovation.

The new steps being taken do not only reference how IBM talks about storage, but who the company talks to about storage. Kennelly noted that IBM aims to talk to both sides of the house, not only exploring options and strategy with the storage team, but also the “CISO, who have, frankly, a big influence in terms of where investment dollars are put today.”

IBM’s evolution as a product supplier

While some industry analysts feared IBM had “lost its formula in storage” because after IBM’s extensive research and development processes, products would not hit the market. However, as Kennelly and his predecessor have had strong product backgrounds, the last two quarters have shown marked improvements.

A lot of innovation is occurring around the mainframe with offerings like Copy Services. Still, the most exciting innovation for Kennelly is the progress with IBM’s Open System storage. New developments in this arena provide “a single core base and a single hardware platform where we can scan right up and down the stack,” Kennelly explained.

Going forward, IBM will continue to innovate in its core storage platforms, as well as other areas, like data protection and cyber resiliency.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMworld. (* Disclosure: VMware Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither VMware nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE