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Breaking up EMC is a dumb idea, says VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger

One for all and all for one (in all sorts of ways) is Virtzilla's cunning plan

So good at server virtualisation, it hurts

And there are some very bright spots in VMware's range. AirWatch “exceeded internal forecasts” and Gelsinger said vSphere 6.0 was the company's “strongest release ever, with the best uptake.”

“The problem we face is that vSphere is such a stunningly good product. For a very large number of customers it works!”

vSphere's so fondly-regarded by many because it solved a pressing problem, namely the unruliness of mid-2000s Windows-centric data centres. Gelsinger thinks VMware's next challenge is to convince customers that it's now worth taking the next step into automation.

For plenty of vSphere users – the kind of folks reading The Reg - that's a scary proposition. Server virtualisation made sysadmins' lives easier. Automation threatens to make their lives complicated by making it apparent people aren't required to drive modern IT.

Gelsinger thinks this is inevitable and says VMware's channel is moving fast from being a provider of outsourced services to being purveyors of business improvement through automation and the apps that thrive in an automated environment. Partner head counts are down as a result, he says, but the value they add is up.

But partners and VMware alike are learning on the fly how to live on the differently-shaped revenue streams that cloud creates. Gelsinger said he's pleased that VMware now derives seven per cent of its revenue from the cloud and software-as-a-service and the fact that percentage has doubled in a year. On the other hand, it's only seven per cent.

Gelsinger's not happy about that number, nor is he worried because he thinks there's “secular progress that is yet to be finished.”

VMware's response is to shake up the way it works. Gelsinger said that a year ago VMware didn't have anyone working on its Project Photon microvisor containerisation project, but can now get such projects to market at speed and is willing to make bets on new ideas.

“Taking risks equals the lowest risk”, Gelsinger told the VMworld crowd in his day two keynote and re-iterated to The Reg.

Those who've bet their businesses and careers on VMware have to hope the company is taking the right risks, in contrast to those who provide the EMC board with such a nasty view of the past. ®

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