ESG On Location – VMware Explore 2022

Sporting a new name, the long anticipated in-person event, VMware Explore, was back this year with new innovation, new conversations, and a new theme, “Cloud Chaos.” The ESG analyst team was there, on location, and in this video, you will hear from me, as well as Mark Bowker, Bob Laliberte, Paul Nashawaty, and Kevin Rhone, on the most impressive announcements and insights from the event.

Check out the video and hope to see you in person at next year’s event.

Fresh off my trip to Dallas for IBM Think, I am reminded how much I enjoy the intimacy offered by these smaller regional events. Unlike their global counterparts, you can often get a closer look at the interaction between a vendor and its customers along with better insight into how IT leaders are handling their own transformation journeys. This setting was a wonderful complement to IBM's theme of “Let's create.”

Last week, I got to attend Pure Accelerate. It was wonderful to be back in out in the world again, and experience the sights and sounds speaking to live people face to face. As for the event, there was a ton to like. I took some video at the event and added my thoughts in the video below, please check that out.

For years, we have seen data transform businesses, create new industries, and serve as the catalyst for business growth and new opportunities. According to ESG research, 59% of businesses identify that at least some portion of their revenue is derived from information-based products and services.

Can an IT systems vendor really transform into a cloud service provider? With everything we saw from HPE and HPE GreenLake at this year’s HPE Discover 2021, I think we are going to find out pretty soon. With this year’s announcements, it's clear HPE understands that modern IT wants a cloud-like experience everywhere, and HPE means to deliver it.

I am excited to announce my new podcast, The Bigger Truth in Tech, is now live on Apple podcasts. Check it out!

At this year’s Pure Accelerate we were offered a glimpse into the future of data storage. Contrary to what you might expect, the event didn’t center on some new array or a new version of flash. Rather, the focus was on how Pure is transforming the way it delivers storage technology, how its storage supports modern application environments, and how its customers consume and manage its storage.

2021 is poised to be a transformational year for Dell Technologies, with Dell Technologies APEX playing the lead role. At this year’s Dell Technologies World, Dell announced the availability of what is expected to just be the start of a broad portfolio of managed IT services. Combined with the announced spin off of both VMware and Boomi, Dell Technologies is finding its focus—a focus I expect will lead to benefits for both Dell and its customers, but there is still much to be done.

HPE made a big announcement this week on the data storage front, introducing Unified DataOps. At a high level, I am a big supporter of innovation along the lines of what HPE is doing—namely, providing technologies that fuel the transition from buying systems to realizing positive business outcomes. That’s because more and more, I see business leaders trying to achieve two seemingly conflicting goals:

This week, IBM announced several enhancements to its storage portfolio. While there was a lot of good stuff in there, IBM’s new Spectrum Fusion offering deserves a deeper conversation. My colleague Paul Nashawaty covered some of the value it offers in his blog. I wanted to take a step back, however, and look at IBM Spectrum Fusion as it relates to the overall direction of IT storage and Infrastructure.