Layering the software technologies created by VMware Inc. over an extensive backbone network developed by Lumen Technologies Inc is how the fiber company sees its relationship with VMware, according to Steve Grabow (pictured), senior vice president of technology solutions and services, strategic alliances and portfolio strategy at Lumen.

“We can bring that all together,” he said. ‘The applications that make life go round in today’s world live in forms and factors of compute that hang off of the network.”

Grabow spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Lisa Martin and David Nicholson at the recent VMware Explore event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Lumen andVMware are collaborating. (* Disclosure below.)

VMware and Lumen solutions

Lumen recently announced its secure access service edge product, which is a form of network security to be tied into VMware. More interestingly, however, Grabow gets into some examples of how the duo have been working together in real-world solutions.

The first that he referred to was the contribution Lumen made to the remote medicine performed widely during the heavy days of COVID. He cited the example of a two-way video doctors visit where his children were able to display their tongues for the online doctor to see using a laptop camera — the combination of VMware and Lumen’s network performing the magic.

The second: a smart stadium, where sporting event attendees are able to order hospitality products, such as a soft drink, using their smartphone and an IoT sensor in the stadium.

“If you think about the building blocks whether it’s the medical scenario or a smart stadium, the building blocks are very similar. You put those building blocks together in a prescriptive way for a specific outcome,” he said explaining the process.

An innovation lab, jointly run with VMware, allows for these libraries of solutions to be explored and tested.

“Platforms and software evolve at a certain pace, and it’s always speeding up,” Grabow stated. “But creating use cases within that lab to solve a common core set of problems for, maybe, a specific vertical is what it’s intended to do.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMware Explore:

(* Disclosure: Lumen Technologies Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Lumen nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE