End-user computing stole the show during VMworld Day 2, thanks to a superb keynote delivery from Sanjay Poonen, complete with an exciting new partnership announcement, product updates and integration demos. Watch the full keynote below!
Read on for a recap of today’s General Session highlights, interspersed with some reactions from attendees on Twitter.
Consumer simple, enterprise secure
Sanjay Poonen, Executive Vice President and General Manager of EUC at VMware, kicked off by addressing how the consumerization of IT is shaping and redefining the EUC landscape. End users demand simple, intuitive and always-on access to their corporate resources, while IT requires robust management and security capabilities for any type of device or app. VMware is addressing these challenges by creating solutions that are “consumer simple and enterprise secure.” The VMware Workspace Suite, comprised of Horizon desktop virtualization, Identity Manager, Horizon FLEX and AirWatch EMM, delivers a digital workspace across desktop and mobile environments, providing integrated access to any application on any device.
VMware + Microsoft
Windows 10 has been a hot topic at VMworld this week, and to capitalize on the momentum, Poonen brought Jim Alkove, Corporate Vice President of Windows Enterprise and Security, to the stage. Poonen and Alkove addressed how VMware and Microsoft are partnering to enable full delivery and management capabilities for Windows 10 applications and devices. The partnership will be enabled by VMware’s newest tech preview, Project A2, which integrates AirWatch EMM with VMware App Volumes application delivery technology to help enterprises accelerate adoption of Windows 10.
New innovations and integrations
In addition to announcing the tech preview of A2, Poonen and VMware EUC Vice President of Product Management Noah Wasmer talked through a flurry of new product announcements, enhancements and demos.
VMware Identity Manager Advanced Edition
In June, VMware introduced VMware Identity Manager, an Identity as a Service (IDaaS) offering that we began including in premium versions of AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). Today, Poonen announced VMware Identity Manager Advanced, a new standalone package of Identity Manager focused on broad-based deployment across all employees on any of their devices, laptops or desktops across any network for SaaS, Mobile, and Windows apps. Watch a quick demo of the VMware Identity Manager solution here.
Horizon Enhancements
Poonen briefly touched on enhancements for VMware Horizon 6.2 that will deliver better scalability and availability, a richer user experience, improved optimization for VMware’s Software Defined Datacenter, enhanced security and new federal government readiness. To get more details on the latest Horizon updates, next steps for Project Enzo and other enhancements to VMware’s application and desktop delivery services, read Shankar Iyer’s latest post on the EUC Blog.
AirWatch + NSX
Wasmer demonstrated how VMware has integrated NSX with AirWatch EMM to deliver microsegmentation security capabilities to mobile devices accessing the corporate network. Watch an overview video of the integration here.
Pat Gelsinger’s 5 imperatives for digital business
VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger closed out Tuesday’s General Session with a powerful presentation on what it will take for businesses to succeed in today’s mobile-cloud landscape. Here are Gelsinger’s five imperatives for digital business:
1. Innovate like a start-up, deliver like an enterprise. Nimble startups are thriving in the mobile-cloud era, while large, stagnant corporations are being threatened for failing to innovate. As Eric Pearson, CIO of IHG, said earlier this week, “It’s no longer the big companies beating the small companies, it’s now the fast beating the slow.”
2. Embrace Unified Hybrid Cloud. The journey to the cloud is maturing as the industry shifts from experimentation to professional delivery. Unified hybrid cloud is bridging the gap between personal and private cloud so that organizations can take advantage of the best of both worlds.
3. Architect with security in mind. Instead of adding security in as a last minute feature, organizations need to choose solutions that have robust security capabilities built in from the start. Virtualization helps provide the foundational level of security to protect the people, apps and data that keep organizations running.
4. Automate everything to predict (almost) anything. The next major wave of innovative technology is automated smart technology that knows what to do before you tell it to. Apps, big data and analytics are the building blocks behind these emerging forms of proactive technology, and the businesses that know how to use them will come out on top.
5. Take risks to stand out. Businesses that don’t take risks and focus on innovation will not survive the next decade. And as IT professionals, we must constantly lead the charge for change by questioning the status quo and creating new, more efficient ways of completing traditional tasks.
For a more in-depth recap of Gelsinger’s keynote speech, check out this post on the VMware Radius blog.
Thanks for following along with us throughout VMworld this year. If you couldn’t make it to the event or if you’re just craving more EMM-specific content, make sure to join us for AirWatch Connect Atlanta Sept. 21-24!
