Francesca Palazzo approaches technology the same way she approaches most challenges: by looking at it from different perspectives.
As a VMware Cloud Foundation Professional Services Solution Architect with Broadcom for the past three years, Francesca defines and shapes customer projects. Based in Rome, she supports more than 20 strategic VMware Cloud Foundation customers throughout Italy.
Francesca believes the ability to step between perspectives is a big part of what keeps the work so engaging.
“In the job I do, every day is completely different,” she said. “New project, new customer, new challenges. This constant evolution is very positive.”
An unusual path into technology
Francesca’s path into technology began somewhat unexpectedly. While studying economics at university, she worked with a team of developers building a platform to track the supply chain for fruits, vegetables, and other products. She acted as a consultant, testing the application from a customer perspective and assessing whether it worked as expected.
“That was the first moment I understood my passion for technology,” she said.
Soon after graduating, Francesca began her career at IBM. She made up for her lack of technical background by spending the first few months learning as much as she could.
“They put me in a washing machine,” she joked, describing the experience of absorbing new knowledge quickly.
The challenge pushed her to study constantly, build new technology skills, and adopt key practices and a habit of learning that have stayed with her throughout her career.
A lesson that still shapes her work
Francesca’s role involves supporting learning and collaboration across multiple internal and external teams, which requires stepping back to see situations from more than one angle. Her approach was shaped early on by a mentor who shared a scene from the film Dead Poets Society, in which a teacher asks his students to stand on their desk to look at things from a different perspective.
That lesson still influences both her personal life and how she works with customers today. In the same spirit, the Woody Allen film Whatever Works also resonates with her. “Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect situation,” she explains. “Try to use what you have to create something better.”
A new perspective on infrastructure
More recently, Francesca has been helping her customers transition to VMware Cloud Foundation 9—a shift she finds particularly exciting.
“With VMware Cloud Foundation 9, we are not just introducing a new technology; we are redefining the way we think about and operate infrastructure,” she explained. “The real breakthrough here is strategic. I am helping my customers move away from unpredictable costs to bring the cloud operating model directly into their environments. VCF 9 delivers that cloud-like agility and automation while allowing them to keep full control over security and predictability.”
“The most significant innovation I have helped my customers implement is centralized lifecycle management,” she continued. “It brings patching, upgrades, certificate management, and host configuration all under one roof, through a single, integrated control plane.”
“In the past, patching was an ordeal. Every update had to be planned months in advance—and major releases were the same story.”
“Teams were buried in compatibility matrices, applying patches one host at a time in a slow, painful process. Now, with unified lifecycle management, the entire cycle is much faster and more secure.”
“At the end of the day, this doesn’t just make operations easier. It frees my customers’ teams to focus on the work that really drives value, instead of getting stuck in repetitive, time-consuming tasks.”
Finding the right team
Francesca’s experience as a woman in tech has been characterized by an inclusive, open-minded work environment at Broadcom, she said.
“I consider myself very fortunate,” she continued. “I have a team that is incredibly supportive.”
Support at Broadcom goes beyond just technical guidance. Colleagues maintain clear communication; willingly helping one another, whether the challenge is technical or personal. Over time, she said, that dynamic has made the team close. “The main point is the contribution you bring to the table and share with the rest of the team,” said Francesca.
This combination of support, openness, and respect has helped Francesca and her colleagues succeed, showing that an inclusive workplace is not only good for people but also for teamwork and new ideas.
For other women considering a career in technology, her advice is simple: stay curious about new things, and keep learning.
“I think you never stop studying,” she said. “Technology is always changing.”
A life full of new experiences
Outside of work, Francesca enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband have two young children, whose questions remind her to stay curious. Weekends often include board games with friends and relatives. Their favorite is Catan, a game that involves collecting resources to build roads, settlements, and cities.
“This is my way of disconnecting from work, recharging and creating meaningful family moments”
She also loves to cook, particularly desserts. In fact, if she had taken a different career path, Francesca believes she might have become a pastry chef. Cheesecake and tiramisu are her favorites to make, though she joked that she ends up eating them herself since she is the only family member who enjoys dessert.
Travel is another passion. One of her most memorable trips took her to Svalbard in Norway, where she and her husband went whale watching.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she recalled.
In honor of International Women’s Month, we are proud to spotlight the contributions of team members like Francesca, whose willingness to approach situations from different perspectives has shaped her career and her work with VMware Cloud Foundation customers.
To read more stories from women across VCF TAM and Professional Services, explore Libby Shen’s and Smirti Chopra’s stories and other International Women’s Month features on our blog.
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