vForum Mumbai, placed the spotlight on “One Cloud, Any Application, Any Device Architecture for IT” strategy, which has become a mantra for VMware for enabling enterprises mobility and security
By Mohd Ujaley
vForum 2015 Mumbai kicked off with a keynote address from Sanjay Poonen, Executive Vice President and General Manager, End-User Computing (EUC), VMware. Innovate like a start-up, Deliver like a enterprise—this was the resounding message of Poonen’s speech. “It is the most exciting time to be in technology. Cloud, Virtualisation, Analytics and Security are coming together in such a way that it is right time to be ready for any,” he said.
A major attraction at the event was the VMware’s demonstration of the functionalities of the its mobility solutions offered by AirWatch which it acquired recently. AirWatch platform can be used for managing end-point devices, mobile apps, window devices from a single console. The representative from VMware informed that the AirWatch has eliminated the complexity with its simplified device management model. It can manage all the applications on the Window 10 in one go. The new platform is more integrable and flexible.
The representatives from Cognizant and Airtel were there to share their experience of working with the VMware. “We have been deploying technology but in recent past our focus has shifted to transform the overall user experience and we are also working to improve the digital experience of our employees and in all, virtualisation and mobility play an integral role,” said P R Devaraj, Global Head-Network and Systems Services, Cognizant. Sharing his experience with VMware, Campbell McClean, Global Chief Architect at Airtel said, “We wanted to virtualised and commoditised hardware but we could not do it with our existing datacentre provider, so we decided to go to VMware and chosen their software design suite.”
Organisations such as Trend Micro, Check Point and few others participated at the event and showcased their solutions for VMware platform. Most of them were of the view that the unified hybrid cloud model put forward by VMware would provide huge opportunity to businesses, but it was also true that any cloud deployment would also lead to more emphasis being given to security. They said security should be embedded at every stage in these solutions.
The two and a half days event had vibrant sessions in which the technical experts from VMware shared vital information and ideas. Attendees also had the opportunity to have an one-to-one interaction with the VMware development experts. According to Arun Parameswaran, Managing Director, VMware India, the event saw massive participation of over 3,700 CIOs, IT practitioners, Vmware’s partners and customers.
Other than Poonen and Parameswaran, this year vForum also featured Raghu Raghuram, who heads software-defined data center division as Executive Vice President and General Manager. In his keynote address Raghuram, brought to life VMware’s software-defined approach to running and building applications, and how VMware was enabling these applications to be delivered through business mobility with security from the device to the cloud.
Company officials informed that VMware would be showcasing the content and messaging from vForum across the country at its ‘vForum On The Road events’ in New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.
vForum also witness the ‘IT Excellence Awards for 2015’, that were given to over 30 India’s leading CIOs and organisations for the steps they took in embracing a new model of IT.
The keynote speeches, demos and session were interesting but cricket icon Sourav Ganguly address stole the show. Ganguly, one of the most successful captains of the Indian Cricket team during an hours long address throws light on leadership, team management and shared many anecdotes highlighting how cricket has taught him to become a team player, accept success and failure as they come and be prepared for just about anything. Comparing the theme of the event “Ready for Any” with the challenges of cricketing world, he said, we live in a world of uncertainty, both business leaders and cricketers need to be flexible and be ready for anything.