Since Broadcom Inc.’s acquisition of VMware last winter, the company’s cloud infrastructure landscape has been reshaped through swift and effective integration, particularly focusing on hybrid cloud solutions.

This partnership has accelerated innovation, streamlined product offerings and introduced significant changes to VMware’s licensing and subscription models. With a focus on hybrid cloud solutions and generative AI, VMware is positioned to lead the market in delivering comprehensive and flexible cloud platforms, according to Krish Prasad (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of the VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom.

Broadcom’s Krish Prasad talks about VCF’s approach to hybrid cloud solutions and gen AI.

“Customers are taking a much more balanced approach — keep some workloads on-prem where it makes sense, take others to the public cloud,” he said. “A hybrid model is what customers have been focused on, and that’s where they want our solutions to enable them to deploy that infrastructure model for their IT.”

Prasad spoke with theCUBE Research’s John Furrier at the VMware Cloud Foundation Transformed event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They explored how Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has rapidly transformed the cloud infrastructure landscape, focusing on innovative hybrid cloud solutions and generative AI while simplifying product offerings and transitioning to a subscription-based model to better meet customer needs. (* Disclosure below.)

Transformation and integration post-acquisition

Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, the integration process has been notably swift and effective. The collaboration has allowed for significant advancements in both product development and market strategies. The rapid pace of innovation has been enabled by Broadcom’s supportive framework, according to Prasad.

“We have been able to make a lot of changes very fast, and customers and analysts have very surprised by how fast we have been moving,” he said.

A key factor in this acceleration is Broadcom’s commitment to innovation across its multiple divisions, each aiming to be the category leader in its field. This approach has enabled VMware to execute customer-driven transformations more effectively than ever before, Prasad pointed out.

“The core value Broadcom brings to the table is all around innovation,” he said. CEO Hock Tan “has around 26 divisions, and each of the divisions is measured by innovate and be the category leader in their space. It’s very simple. And that’s what he’s doing with VMware.”

The integration has also simplified VMware’s product offerings, making it easier for customers to engage with the company. The previous complexity, characterized by an extensive product portfolio, has been streamlined to focus on delivering a comprehensive cloud platform.

“We vastly simplified the product portfolio with a private cloud offering, which is VCF, that can also be deployed in the public cloud,” said Prasad. “Then we have all the way down to hypervisor that customers want to deploy for a server virtualization.”

This new focus ensures that customers, regardless of their size, can access tailored solutions that meet their specific cloud infrastructure needs.

Embracing hybrid cloud solutions and generative AI

One of the most significant shifts in the industry is the movement toward hybrid cloud models, which balance the use of public cloud services and on-prem infrastructure. This shift is driven by the need for flexibility, security and cost-effectiveness. VCF is at the forefront of this transformation, providing a unified platform that supports diverse workloads across different environments, according to Prasad.

“Our focus has been to deliver a cloud platform to the customers that they can run on-prem,” he said. “They can run with service providers or the hyperscalers so that customers can have a managed environment coming from the public clouds and then have their own private cloud that connects to each other with the same foundation underneath it.”

The rise of generative AI has further catalyzed the need for strong and versatile cloud infrastructures. This shift has positioned VCF as a critical solution for businesses aiming to balance flexibility, security and performance in their cloud strategies, Prasad pointed out. VCF is designed to support this new wave of AI-driven applications, ensuring that businesses can stay competitive in an increasingly digital landscape.

In addition to product innovation, VMware has also introduced significant changes to its licensing and subscription models. This shift aligns with the broader trend toward cloud-based services and offers greater flexibility for customers.

“All the products now, in the new lineup, are subscription only,” Prasad said. “Obviously, we support customers who are on perpetual, who have support contracts with us. We are fully supporting them, but anything new that you buy from us will be subscription-oriented.”

This flexibility enables customers using VCF to seamlessly transfer their on-prem workloads to the cloud, bringing their licenses along. This portability ensures that businesses can maintain operational continuity and adapt their cloud strategies without being locked into a single environment. Additionally, it provides the agility needed to respond to evolving technological demands and optimize resource utilization across different platforms.

“Broadcom is supporting the entire base of VMware … enabling them to deploy a hybrid cloud with the private cloud, modernize their data center, deploy the private cloud and then extend it to the public cloud.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of the VMware Cloud Foundation Transformed event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the VMware Cloud Foundation Transformed event. Neither VMware by Broadcom, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE