VMware Explore Europe topped off a year of monumental successes as we took our Getting Cloud Smart Customer Innovation Showcase to Barcelona. We heard how VMware and our most innovative customers are ushering in the multi-cloud future together.
My VMware Explore Europe session built on the energy started during our VMware Explore US keynote, where we unveiled how VMware Customer Experience and Success (CXS) works with our customers to challenge the status quo. My team and I took to the stage to hear how ENAV, Orange, and Swisscom partnered with VMware CXS to empower their multi-cloud operations and accelerate a cloud-smart approach.
ENAV: Taking mission-critical to a new level keeps air travel safe and secure
Luigi Mazzucchelli, Head of IT Infrastructure and Platform Engineering, ENAV, and Kevin Meeks, Senior Vice President Customer Success, VMware, kicked off the first customer conversation. Luigi spoke to Kevin about modernizing a legacy air traffic system to endure for decades.
Air traffic controllers have seconds to make decisions with a complex system that must remain safe and dependable but continually evolve. ENAV wanted to move its existing environment into the digital era, but remain reliant and secure throughout the process. The company took a bottom-up strategy by leveraging its existing infrastructure components for a transitional period. Key to ENAV’s success was VMware.
According to Luigi, VMware CXS was a key differentiator in ENAV’s success. The impact for ENAV is the ability to maintain its mission-critical responsibility of safe, secure air travel while moving to the next generation of air traffic control.
Orange: Understanding customer context delivers customer success and builds solid partnerships
Mathias Rousselet, Head of Virtualization Innovation Cloud, Orange, took to the stage next to discuss their cloud journey with VMware technology. Mathias spoke to David Percy, Vice President, VMware Professional Services EMEA, about the requirements of a world-class telecom provider and the impact of partnering with VMware Professional Services.
Orange began its cloud journey four years ago, starting with vSphere virtualization on the compute side. The company experimented with several cloud solutions with the French IT team deciding to build a modern cloud using VMware NSX® and VMware vRealize® Automation™ (now VMware Aria Automation™).
The key outcomes Orange wanted to achieve were accelerating IT delivery and providing flexibility to developers. They also wanted to consolidate legacy data centers and migrate workloads to modern on-premises data centers. The company is also using SaaS on the public cloud for some services and is embarking on migrating to VMware vRealize® Automation Cloud™ (now VMware Aria Automation™).
Of course, it’s not just about the products involved. It’s about outcomes, how the work gets done, and the partnerships that help to make things work. According to Mathias, expertise and product knowledge within their environment are where VMware Professional Services provide crucial value.
During the last three years, Orange has moved one-third of its workload to the new environment for French IT, where internal customers are pleased with the results.
Swisscom: Meeting customer expectations with a trusted partner, VMware Global Support
Ned Vasic, Head of IT Cloud, Swisscom, rounded out the customer conversations on modernizing cloud platforms and reaching operational excellence for the public cloud. Ned talked to Alex Obikhod, Vice President, Global Support, VMware, about Swisscom’s success with its technology transformation.
Swisscom provides infrastructure and services for Swiss customers and sees their daily challenges and how they deal with complexity. Customers don’t fall into one bucket – no one size fits all. According to Ned, customers are looking for a multitude of options; some insist on private clouds, some customers benefit from the public cloud, while others want a combination.
Customers are also searching for experienced partners. Swisscom chooses its partners carefully. Partners are essential in helping organizations manage complexity, but as Ned emphasized, they are critical in helping to meet customer expectations. According to Ned, having a trusted partner like VMware Global Support is crucial in meeting customer expectations.
I want to personally thank Luigi, Mathias, and Ned for taking the time to join the session and sharing their remarkable successes. Of course, ENAV, Orange, and Swisscom weren’t the only stories that unfolded during the session. I was proud to share VMware’s Customer Innovation and Hero Awards recognizing those that have broken barriers to achieve great things for their customers.
These achievements are the result of hard work, perseverance and tremendous collaboration. Below is a list of the awards and winners.
EMEA Customer Achievement Award Winners
Customer Heroes
- Hero for Good: University Hospital Essen – Pacesetter for first-rate medical services headquartered in Ruhr, Germany
- Customer Experiences Hero: Ziraat Bankasi – Provider of commercial and personal loans headquartered in Ankara, Turkey
- Weathering the Change Hero: The Royal Orthopedic Hospital – National Health Service specialist orthopedic hospital headquartered in Northfield, Birmingham, England
Customer Innovators
- Anywhere Workspace Innovator: BMW Group – Multinational manufacturer of performance luxury vehicles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Security Transformation Innovator: Thales Group: Multinational electrical systems designer, developer, and manufacturer headquartered in Paris, France
- Cloud Transformation Innovator: ABN AMRO – Dutch bank headquartered in Amsterdam
- Modern Application Innovator: CLAL – Insurance and finance provider headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
That’s a wrap of my first VMware Explore experience. Listen to the replay of my Customer Innovation Showcase sessions to hear the details of all the customer conversations from VMware Explore Europe and VMware Explore US.
