Episode description

Sovereign clouds have been all the rage over the past years, especially in Europe. Public cloud providers and vendors focusing on private clouds alike talk about it a lot. One of the major players when it comes to private clouds, VMware also chimes in. During VMware Explore Europe we sat down with Rajeev Bhardwaj, who heads VMware's CSP business, to hear more about it. What makes it different and interesting for companies to go for this VCF-based sovereign cloud option? 
 
When it comes to sovereign clouds, it can get quite confusing very quickly. If all kinds of players on the market claim to have the perfect solution, this raises several questions. One fundamental question is what a sovereign cloud actually is. There are no real standards for it, but there are some general tenets. Think of things like local data residency, jurisdictional control, and local ownership. These form the backbone of sovereign clouds. We dive into the complexities of jurisdictional nuances. We also discuss whether we need standardized guidelines from entities like the European Commission.

From a VMware perspective, VMware Cloud Foundation plays an important role in the sovereign cloud discussion. The idea behind this cloud stack is that everything that has to do with sovereign clouds can be integrated into it from the ground up. Rajeev and with him VMware see the company playing a pivotal role in the sovereign cloud discussion. 

Whether VMware will be and remain a major driver of the sovereign cloud remains to be seen of course. That depends on many factors. However, the concept of sovereign cloud does match Broadcom CEO Hock Tan's often-quoted statement that the future of cloud is private very well. Sovereign clouds and private clouds will share many characteristics. Especially when you add Private AI into the mix (another key target for VMware), it could very well be a big part of VMware's future.