Networking, storage and applications performance are all getting a strong jolt with the emergence of cross-cloud interoperability, as well as unified access interfaces and improving architecture. But with these advancements, there will also be a period of adjustment, during which time competing companies will have the opportunity to distinguish themselves through rapid adaptation.

Starting off the third day of the VMworld 2016 conference, John Furrier (@furrier), Stu Miniman (@stu), Peter Burris (@plburris) and David Floyer (@dfloyer), cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, came together to examine VMware, Inc.’s continued announcements, some of the understated implications and what effects they all might have on the coming state of storage.

Expansion and acceleration

Floyer began by pointing out how much this year’s VMworld event has grown in customer appeal and engagement, as well as VMware’s ability to drive product interest. “[VMware’s] much more confident of their role within the data services,” Floyer stated.

He also gave attention to the increased presence of Virtual SAN (VSAN) (VMware’s software-defined shared storage offering) in the products and demonstrations. “VSAN has grown very aggressively; the quality of the product, the customers are really liking it,” Floyer noted. Furrier agreed, saying, “The VSAN success … it’s exploding.”

The changing standards for storage were another topic of interest. “Fundamentally, the thesis is that storage is going from the SAN itself closer to the server,” Floyer said. “There’s a lot more flash now, and that flash is taking away the need to have things further from the server. … You’re seeing much faster networks … much faster storage … and the processes themselves, the three are coming together.”

Innovating with new combinations

Looking at the potential for applications and operations using the cross-cloud platforming, which has so much of the spotlight at this year’s VMworld, Floyer was impressed by the versatility, among other aspects. “It’s a continual application of a lot of different technologies,” he said.

Floyer also felt that “the edge is going to be an area of innovation within IT” and that companies addressing this as part of their communications activity would find an enormous potential for growth and creative reimaginings.

Turning to the more troublesome aspects, Burris predicted, “We are going to enter into a period of uncertainty about inter-cloud connectivity,” with VMware’s plans for API distribution to enable performance in such avenues as AWS and Microsoft Azure.

“How you arbitrate the services out of those clouds, so you end up with more simplification, is going to be crucial,” Burris stated. And Floyer anticipated that physical location would develop surprising importance for intercommunication in the cross-cloud context.

For all of the changes that will be emerging, some aspects of storage and connectivity will remain intact.

“We’re not going to get a stateless [solution]. … At the end of the day … VMware’s going to be in the mix, and I think that’s what we want to talk to customers about,” Burris concluded.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the VMworld 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE