At VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Himanshu Singh to discuss the expanded partnership between VMware and Canonical—bringing together the world’s #1 private cloud and the #1 cloud OS. Himanshu explains how Ubuntu OS with Canonical’s 10-year enterprise support is now bundled as part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) entitlement, simplifying operations for enterprise customers. A key highlight is the introduction of “chisel containers”—lightweight Ubuntu image...
Sep 15, 2025•8 min•Ep. 552
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast recorded at VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Jon Rosenson, President & COO at Expedient, to explore how Expedient is delivering VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a Service. Expedient, a full-stack cloud services provider with over 25 years of experience and a VMware partner since 2008, helps clients simplify IT by managing VCF on their behalf. Jon explains how Expedient delivers: ☁️ Multi-tenant and dedic...
Sep 12, 2025•11 min•Ep. 551
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast from VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Dilpreet Bindra, Sr. Director of Engineering at VMware by Broadcom, to talk about the evolution of Kubernetes and VMware’s latest innovations. Dilpreet explains how Kubernetes has moved from niche adoption to the mainstream, with 80–90% of new applications now being built on Kubernetes. He highlights how VMware Kubernetes Service (VKS) stands out by empowering applicatio...
Sep 12, 2025•15 min•Ep. 550
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast recorded at VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and Dave Linthicum sit down with Johan van Amersfoort from ITQ to discuss ITQ’s long-standing partnership with VMware by Broadcom and their latest innovation for AI. Johan introduces ITQ’s new GPU Sizer tool for VMware Private AI Foundation, designed to make GPU infrastructure sizing for AI workloads simple and accurate. By connecting directly to HuggingFace to retrieve model parameters, the tool...
Sep 11, 2025•13 min•Ep. 549
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast from VMware Explore 2025, host Pete Flecha is joined by Anupama Mahabhashyam and Odded Solomon to discuss the latest innovations transforming the telecommunications industry. The conversation covers: 📡 The shift from physical network functions to cloud-native, containerized applications ⚙️ The launch of Telco Cloud Platform 5.1 with enhanced GitOps capabilities ☁️ How telcos can position themselves as sovereign cloud providers 🔄 Dynamic infrast...
Sep 11, 2025•13 min•Ep. 548
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Glenn Sizemore from NetApp live at VMware Explore 2025 to discuss NetApp Disaster Recovery, a SaaS service within the BlueXP portfolio designed specifically for VMware workloads. Glenn explains how the service delivers disaster recovery that feels a lot like Site Recovery Manager (SRM) — but built exclusively for NetApp systems. Leveraging SnapMirror for data transport and array-based offloads, ...
Sep 10, 2025•8 min•Ep. 547
At VMware Explore 2025, host Pete Flecha speaks with Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Product Marketing at Broadcom, about the strategic partnerships shaping the future of VMware Cloud Foundation. The conversation dives into key announcements, including: 🤝 Canonical + VMware – Ubuntu OS integration with full enterprise support for VCF customers ⚡ NVIDIA + VMware – Expanded collaboration bringing Private AI Foundation directly into VCF, enabling near-bare-metal GPU performance and improved ROI on expensi...
Sep 09, 2025•12 min•Ep. 546
At VMware Explore 2025, host Pete Flecha sits down with Dave Linthicum, Rick Walsworth, and James Schorr, Sr. Director of Enterprise Cloud Platforms at GCI—Alaska’s largest telecom provider—to discuss GCI’s journey from vSphere to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0. James shares how GCI moved from managing disparate vSphere clusters with complex patching requirements to a standardized and streamlined private cloud platform with VCF. The shift has delivered: Faster and easier cluster upgrades Simp...
Sep 09, 2025•9 min•Ep. 545
In this VMware Explore 2025 episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Krish Prasad, SVP and General Manager of the VMware Cloud Foundation division at Broadcom. Krish shares how VMware, now under Broadcom, has delivered on its long-standing vision of a truly integrated private cloud platform with VCF 9.0. He explains how the new organizational structure has accelerated innovation, resulting in positive feedback from customers across industries ...
Sep 08, 2025•13 min•Ep. 544
At VMware Explore 2025, the Virtually Speaking Podcast sat down with Chris Wolf, Global Head of AI and Advanced Services at Broadcom, alongside hosts Pete Flecha and guest co-host David Linthicum, to unpack VMware’s latest Private AI announcements. Chris details the expanded partnership with NVIDIA, including support for B200s, RTX Pro 6000s, DirectPath I/O, and pass-through capabilities, plus a new partnership with AMD to virtualize MI350 GPUs. He also breaks down how Private AI Services are no...
Sep 05, 2025•15 min•Ep. 543
Recorded live at VMware Explore 2025, this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast features hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson in conversation with Paul Turner, VP of Products for VMware Cloud Foundation at Broadcom. Paul unpacks the major announcements from the general session, including how VCF 9 is being adopted by leading enterprises such as Barclays and Walmart. He explains how VCF 9 delivers a modern private cloud platform that supports AI, VM-based, and container-based applications. A...
Sep 04, 2025•11 min•Ep. 542
Pete Flecha and John Nicholson kick off our VMware Explore Las Vegas coverage in style, setting the stage for a week of big announcements and conversations. Filmed inside an autonomous car, the backdrop itself reflects the kind of innovation, AI, and advanced infrastructure shaping the future of technology — the same themes driving VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0. In this episode, we break down the highlights of VCF 9.0, including Memory Tiering, vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA), Virtual Priv...
Sep 02, 2025•5 min•Ep. 541
Get ready for VMware Explore 2025 in Las Vegas! In this episode of Virtually Speaking, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson are joined by Brad Tompkins, Executive Director of VMUG, to preview what attendees can expect at this year’s event. They cover: The latest technical sessions and free certification opportunities for full pass holders VMUG activities, including their booth (#105), member reception at Wakuta, and exclusive VMUG Advantage discount (15% off with code Explore2025) for home lab a...
Aug 21, 2025•22 min•Ep. 540
This week on the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sat down with networking experts Varun Santosh and Thomas Vignon to unpack what’s new with NSX in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0. The conversation dives into the evolution of networking in VCF, with a spotlight on Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs)—a game-changing feature that brings public cloud-like networking to private cloud environments. Learn how VPCs simplify network deployment, enable self-service, and provide defa...
Aug 07, 2025•33 min•Ep. 539
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson are joined by Jatin Purohit and Angel Petrov to explore what’s new with APIs, SDKs, and PowerCLI in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0. The discussion dives into major innovations designed to simplify automation and integration for VCF users, including: A unified VCF SDK (Python and Java) that consolidates previously separate component SDKs Compatibility fixes that eliminate version mismatches (especially with Java)...
Jul 29, 2025•47 min•Ep. 538
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Raakhee Mistry from VMware Cloud Foundation and field CTO Mitesh Pancholy to discuss why many organizations are hitting the reset button on their cloud strategies. Drawing from the new Private Cloud Outlook 2025 study—based on insights from 1,800 global IT leaders—the conversation explores a major trend: private cloud is making a comeback, with 53% of respondents prioritizing private cloud inves...
Jul 24, 2025•36 min•Ep. 537
In this episode of Virtually Speaking, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson are joined by VMware legend Cormac Hogan to unpack everything you need to know about Data Services Manager (DSM). They explore how DSM delivers on-premises database services for platforms like PostgreSQL and MySQL—while solving a big problem for VI admins: database sprawl. Cormac explains how DSM gives vSphere admins control over database infrastructure, simplifies lifecycle management for DBAs, and empowers developers with se...
Jul 15, 2025•25 min•Ep. 536
In this episode of Virtually Speaking, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson are joined by Harshad Colte and Feidhlim O’Leary to break down the latest vSphere enhancements in VMware Cloud Foundation 9. They explore how vSphere is evolving to support both traditional VM workloads and modern container-based applications—all while improving operational efficiency, scalability, and security. Highlights include: NVMe memory tiering for higher VM density Dramatically reduced vMotion stun times for GPU-...
Jun 30, 2025•41 min•Ep. 535
In this episode, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson are joined by Pete Koehler to dive into the latest vSAN innovations in VMware Cloud Foundation 9. They explore key updates like global deduplication, improved network traffic separation, vSAN-to-vSAN replication with VMware Live Recovery, and stretch cluster enhancements. From boosting performance and efficiency to simplifying disaster recovery and fleet-wide observability, this conversation highlights how vSAN is evolving to support modern private...
Jun 25, 2025•47 min•Ep. 534
In this final episode of the VMware Cloud Foundation 9 series, Paul Lembo, CTO for Americas Strategic at Broadcom, discusses "The Sum is Greater than the Parts", emphasizing how VCF 9's integrated capabilities create more value than individual technological components. Key Highlights: Holistic Cloud Strategy: - Integrated improvements in compute, storage, and networking - Operational agility with built-in governance and cost controls - Flexible approach accommodating different organizational nee...
Jun 20, 2025•13 min•Ep. 533
Welcome to the eighth episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson explore "VMware Cloud Foundation for ALL" with James LeFort, Director of Americas Solutions Architects at Broadcom. In this episode, James dismantles the perception that VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is only for large enterprises. He emphasizes that VCF 9 is a versatile platform designed for businesses of all sizes, offering flexible deployment options, simpli...
Jun 20, 2025•15 min•Ep. 532
Welcome to the seventh episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson unpack VMware Cloud Foundation 9 with William Lam, Distinguished Platform Engineer at Broadcom. Key Highlights: Complete re-architecture of the software stack Core Platform Innovations: - Compute: Support for VMs up to 1000 vCPUs and 16TB memory - Memory Tiering: Transparent NVMe memory expansion - vSAN Global Deduplication (30-40% storage efficiency) - First...
Jun 20, 2025•29 min•Ep. 531
Welcome to the sixth episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson explore "Momentum Shift: Private AI in the Enterprise" with Chris Wolf, Global Head of AI and Advanced Services. Key Highlights: VMware's explosive momentum in Private AI services Key AI use cases for enterprises: - GPU as a Service with intelligent resource provisioning - Back-office contact center efficiency (10-35% productivity gains) - Enterprise document s...
Jun 19, 2025•14 min•Ep. 530
Welcome to the fifth episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson explore "VCF Automation and Fleet Management" with Chandra Prathuri, Senior Director of Product Management. Key Highlights: Fleet management capabilities inspired by hyperscaler operations Seamless integration with existing vSphere, vSAN, and NSX deployments Automated lifecycle management for software upgrades Simplified identity, password, and certificate mana...
Jun 19, 2025•12 min•Ep. 529
Welcome to the fourth episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson explore "Building a Cyber Resilient Private Cloud" with Rakesh Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Product Management for Cloud Storage & Data. Key Highlights: vSAN's evolution as the #1 storage platform for VMware workloads Secondary storage strategies for backup, DR, and cyber recovery Introduction of automated "clean room" recovery for malware attacks VM-...
Jun 19, 2025•12 min•Ep. 528
Welcome to the third episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VCF 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson dive deep into the core infrastructure innovations of VMware Cloud Foundation 9 with Core Infrastructure Product Lead Vijay Ramachandran. Key Highlights: Advanced memory tiering technology reducing infrastructure costs by 35-40% Confidential Compute with end-to-end data encryption vSAN ESA global deduplication across entire clusters Native snapshot management a...
Jun 18, 2025•22 min•Ep. 527
Welcome to the second episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VMware Cloud Foundation 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson continue their deep dive into VMware Cloud Foundation 9 with Director of VCF Product Marketing Rick Walsworth. Key Highlights: Simplified deployment as a single, unified platform Enhanced user experience for cloud infrastructure admins and developers Three key business outcomes: modernizing infrastructure, operating like a cloud, and ensuri...
Jun 18, 2025•12 min•Ep. 526
Welcome to the first episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VMware Cloud Foundation 9 series! In this inaugural installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Paul Turner, Broadcom’s leader of VCF product management, to kick off an in-depth exploration of VMware Cloud Foundation 9. This series will dive deep into the platform's latest innovations, capabilities, and transformative potential for private cloud computing. Key Highlights: The rise of private cloud and its cost-e...
Jun 17, 2025•21 min•Ep. 525
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is now Generally Available! For the next several days we will be releasing several episodes in our series titled Exploring VMware Cloud Foundation 9. This series takes you behind the scenes with the product experts, engineers, and visionaries driving the VCF 9 transformation. Whether you’re an infrastructure architect, IT leader, or just cloud-curious, these conversations offer real-world insights into how VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is modernizing private cloud infrast...
Jun 17, 2025•33 sec•Ep. 524
In this episode of Virtually Speaking, we’re gearing up for Mobile World Congress 2025 with Paul Turner, VP of Products, and Anupama, Telco Lead for Product Marketing at Broadcom. We dive into Broadcom’s bold vision for the Telco Data Center, focusing on how simplification, unification, and automation are transforming network operations. With the theme “Your Telco Data Center. Simplified. Unified. Automated.”, Broadcom is set to showcase innovations that help Telcos accelerate service delivery, ...
Feb 28, 2025•18 min•Ep. 523
