… replicate full VMs and all their data to any S3-compatible object store, with full in-cloud rehydration to a VMware cluster, for “on-demand DR.”
CP: How do you think your technology portfolio will change in the next three years?
RP: Our continuous data protection (CDP) and point-in-time recovery capabilities will get more advanced. Our monitoring and management of compute, storage and network resources will incorporate AI and machine learning to proactively adapt to changing workloads, activity and requirements. And we will see cross-platform protection in addition to VMware-to-VMware DR.
CP: How do you expect your channel strategy to evolve over that time frame?
RP: The MSP and CSP partners will remain a focus for our channel strategy, but we will also see growth in the service provider/consultant channel. They used to be called systems integrators, but that name is a little anachronistic as they focus on being the sherpas in their customers’ cloud journeys.
CP: What didn’t we ask that partners should know?
RP: The shift from on-premises data protection to cloud services for business continuity is a huge disruption in our industry, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire market will be carved up by three or four hyperscale cloud providers, and everybody else will die off. There will be opportunity, but to paraphrase Thomas Edison, it’s incumbent on us to not miss the opportunity just because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
