Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 45 | Page 72

AT VMWARE , WE FIND THAT CUSTOMERS ARE CURRENTLY INVESTING TIME AND MONEY IN CLOUD STRATEGIES , SECURITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND RUNNING OF MODERN APPLICATIONS .
GET TO KNOW if needed . At the end of the day , it is all about agility , time to market and cost .
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role ?

AT VMWARE , WE FIND THAT CUSTOMERS ARE CURRENTLY INVESTING TIME AND MONEY IN CLOUD STRATEGIES , SECURITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND RUNNING OF MODERN APPLICATIONS .

cloud , Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning . Customers are already deploying , investigating or planning to deploy these technologies . A software-defined approach is a must and will form the foundation for the tech world moving forward .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
At VMware , we find that customers are currently investing time and money in cloud strategies , security and the development and running of modern applications . Modern business will run on modern applications . Some of our customers are planning to make use of a single cloud provider – they want to run their entire business within this single cloud provider . This is like saying , ‘ I will go with x hardware vendor and stay there for the foreseeable future ’. The customers that have a multicloud strategy and aren ’ t committing their entire business to a single cloud provider are the ones that will have more choice , better financial options and the ability to move back to their private data centre
There are many challenges that customers face to move to cloud or a complete softwaredefined architecture . Some of these challenges are people and process-related . Company politics , job security and the hunger for career growth are to name a few . Rigid silos exist in the IT department ( server , network , storage , security ) and each silo has its own team culture , brand and red tape . If a company can break these silos and learn to work as one digital team , the business will benefit from it . The IT department can then start moving from a cost centre to a profit centre .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?
I have seen many changes in my job role in the past few years . Technology is moving at a swift pace and one has to keep up . The ‘ super customer ’ of today do their research on the Internet , but they are still interested in the vision , strategy and complete solution set from VMware . We have changed from a point solution company to solving a customer ’ s biggest business challenges . VMware can support any cloud , any application and device , and any worker . •
Sport , such as golf and pool , is a good way to take your mind off things , but I love spending time with my family and my French Bulldog , Maurice .
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