Posted on by appenz

Leaving VMware

It’s official, after four years at VMware I am leaving to pursue a new adventure. VMware was the first time for me to work in a large company (or in fact, any company I didn’t start myself). Martin Casado originally persuaded me to work for him as the CTO for the NSBU and it was a blast to see NSX go from a < $200m run rate to a > $1b run rate. Martin had also built an incredible team that drove Networking Virtualization into the market and changed the enterprise networking space for good.

Presenting during the General Session Keynote at vForum Korea, one of my last major talks at VMware.

At VMworld 2015 we did a simple but for VMware groundbreaking demo of NSX working with Amazon Web Services. It was controversial as VMware had its own cloud “vCloud Air” and we were working with a competitor. But the demo showed that VMware could create value on top the hyperscale clouds and together with VMC it became the starting point of what today are the VMware Cloud Services. Launching them during the Day 1 Keynote at VMworld in 2016 in front of a live audience of over 10,000 people was an amazing experience.

VMware’s Cloud Services have come a long way since. VMware Cloud on AWS turned out to be a big success and last year we acquired CloudHealth and Heptio as additional pillars for our cloud portfolio. Amazon is now a strategic partner. With Joe Kinsella and Joe Beda VMware now has two superb CTO’s that are thought leaders in the cloud and container space, and with Milin Desai a great GM to drive the integration. When I joined VMware, it was a data center company. Today it is a cloud company. I am tremendously proud to have helped drive this transition.

It’s been a privilege to work with Pat and see him steer VMware with a steady hand through complex times (and being named #1 tech exec for it) and working for Raghu and Rajiv was a master class in technology strategy and operations. I had a great time at VMware, and I am tremendously grateful for it.

23 Replies to “Leaving VMware”

  1. Hi Guido,
    Thank you for everything you did for us. It was amazing and fun time with you and Martin in earlier days. Hope to keep in touch.

    Thanks,
    Soon

  2. Good luck Guido. In the short time we worked together I learned a lot from you about the power and potential of networking and the art of storytelling. Good luck in your next venture! No doubt it will be a great success.

    1. Thanks Carlos. I’ll definitely stay in technology and I hope we have a chance to talk again in the future.

  4. Hi Guido,

    schade zu hören. Viel Erfolg jedoch bei den Dingen, denen Du Dich jetzt zuwendest. Vielen Dank für Deine Unterstützung bei den Gesprächen mit unseren deutschen Kunden.

    Danke und viele Grüße

    André

  5. Hi Guido

    It was a privilege to work with you on strategic opportunties with large customers. Your customer focus and unique ability to simplify complex topics was incredible. We will miss you ..

    Cheers
    Ravi

    1. It was an honor to work with you as well. I would highly value a chance to work together in the future. Thanks Ravi!

  7. Congrats Guido, it was a great pleasure working with you over the past four years. I had a lot of fun working on your personal storytelling that was infused into your keynotes. Looking forward to staying in touch and watching you in your new adventure.

    Tim Goggin | Sappington

    1. Thanks for the help shaping VMware’s message through its presentations. Many of the slides from 2015 are still being used today and I think your Sappington slides will be part of VMware decks for a decade.

  8. Hi Guido
    it always was a pleasure working with you – many great customer visits in Germany.

    Good luck with your new adventure – hope to be in touch.

    Best,
    Georg

  9. Simple and powerful post. Shows your story telling skill that many have commented here 🙂 best wishes for nest adventure.

  10. Guido,

    Very sad to learn of your departure. It was a pleasure working with you and I wish you the very best in your next endeavor. Please keep in touch!

    Shawn

    1. Thanks Shawn. I enjoyed working together and I learned a lot about end user computing from you. Let’s definitely keep in touch!

  11. Thanks Guido for all the advise and guidance you gave me on the cloud service log int. You will be missed.

  12. Hi Guido,
    It was a pleasure working with you when as part of VMware Cloud Services – truly appreciated your humility.
    Thanks and good luck with your next endeavor.

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