The emergence of multicloud has been accompanied by — and, in some ways, driven by — a proliferation of devices and the data they generate, collect and store. That data has opened up new sources of value for many organizations, and it has also become imperative to protect it from attack, even while cybercriminals have become more sophisticated and determined in their efforts.
At VMware Explore 2022, Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager of VMware's networking and advanced security business group, led a keynote session on how to make networking and security “cloud smart.” VMware plans to continue modernizing its security offerings to stay a step ahead of threat actors in a multicloud world through product enhancements announced at the event.
Gillis stated that VMware currently has 7 million or 7.2 million active endpoints with Carbon Black, and those generate 240 terabytes of data. “The fundamental promise that we made to our customers is that we are going to allow you to make your private cloud as nimble, as agile, as efficient as a public cloud.”
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VMware Announces Enhancements for Networking and Security
A multicloud infrastructure can help to handle the incredible amount of data being generated by organizations, but it may introduce new networking and security needs. Over the course of the event, VMware announced multiple new offerings to assist in these areas. These include:
- Project Northstar for multicloud networking, security and end-to-end visibility
- Expansion of network detection and visibility to the Carbon Black Cloud endpoint protection platform, with early access available now
- Project Trinidad, which extends and advances VMware’s API security and analytics
- Project Watch, a new approach to multicloud networking and security that provides advanced app-to-app policy controls
“Enterprises are facing an unprecedented level of threat and complexity as they operate in today’s multi-cloud world,” Gillis said. “VMware is radically transforming how our customers consume networking and security, allowing them to realize the agility and efficiencies of the cloud operating model through a cloud-smart approach. With a privileged position in the infrastructure and a scale-out, distributed software architecture, we’re able to leverage the intrinsic attributes of our platforms and deliver these unique solutions in a consumption-oriented manner.”
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Multicloud Offers Increased Agility and Efficiency
Despite the advantages a multicloud operating model offers, it can sometimes be challenging to get full-scale buy-in from users. “The hard part is, how do we try to position change? How do we get people to embrace the cloud operating model and feel like, as we go on this journey to a multicloud world, that was the time for us to say, ‘Look, we’re going to do things differently’?” Gillis said.
He acknowledged that IT leaders and end users have valid questions and concerns about whether they can successfully make private cloud environments as efficient, agile and nimble as the public cloud.
But Gillis said multicloud infrastructures can handle these issues and provide resilient, seamless and secure connectivity. “I can string things together with encrypted connections and not worry about the physical network infrastructure,” Gillis said. “This is really our opportunity together to drive change to create operational efficiency and better security at the same time.”
Our goal is to give you a singular platform for how you build, run, secure and manage applications.”
Ajay Patel
General Manager of Modern Applications and Management Business, VMware
Secure Connectivity Is Critical to Modern App Development
In another session at the event, Ajay Patel, general manager for VMware's modern applications and management business, said, “Our goal is to give you a singular platform for how you build, run, secure and manage applications.”
“When asked, 91 percent of the enterprise tells us that they’re well along on this journey; they’re making good progress with a lot of obstacles. Seventy-seven percent of our revenue growth is attributed to successful modernization projects. So, when you do it correctly, there’s real revenue,” Patel said.
Patel said that security and visibility are integral parts of the process and noted that app development can frequently involve more than 30 people in various roles. “As we move to a distributed cloud, the problems are getting worse,” Patel said. “You don’t even own a data center you’re going to have to service. And so, I believe visibility is foundational as you start to think about a modern platform.”
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Photography by Joe Kuehne
