VMware acquisitions focus on cloud security, Kubernetes infrastructure

Ahead of annual showcase, VMware acquiring Carbon Black and Pivotal Software

With its annual VMWorld event set to begin next week in San Francisco, VMWare this week announced a pair of acquisitions intended to bolster its enterprise cloud security offerings and drive development of its Kubernetes-based product set.

In a pair of Aug. 22 announcements, VMWare said it will acquire security specialist Carbon Black in an all cash transaction valued at $2.1 billion, and will acquire Pivotal Software in a stock transaction that values Pivotal at $2.7 billion.

VMware’s overarching corporate strategy is “any application, any device, any cloud with intrinsic security,” Gabriele Di Piazza, vice president of solutions for Telco NFV, told RCR Wireless News in a June interview. As it relates to 5G, the idea of a cloud-native, automated network will involve significant operator investment in distributing computing infrastructure, cloud-based data management and analysis and flexible development to quickly spin up new services.

On the Carbon Black acquisition, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger in a statement described the current state of cloud security as “broken…ineffective…fragmented. We are now taking a huge step forward in security and delivering an enterprise-grade platform to administer and protect workloads, applications and networks.”

The internet of things underlies digital transformation strategies across enterprise verticals and, at a high-level, more internet-connected devices, managed in and streaming data to the cloud, create a larger surface area for a potential attack. CarbonBlack uses “behavioral analytics” and artificial intelligence to identify and guard against cyberattacks.

In a blog post, Carbon Black CEO Patrick Morley said the acquisition gives the combined company the chance “to truly disrupt the security industry–and ultimately help more customers stay safe from cyberattacks” by bringing “security into the fabric of the compute stack.”

Kubernetes is an open-source platform that automates management of Linux containers and works across public, private or hybrid clouds. Telcos are exploring the technology as a way to manage cloud-native evolved packet cores.

For instance, Verizon and Ericsson are operating a live network cloud-native EPC trial that Verizon’s VP of Technology Development and Planning Bill Stone called “a glimpse into the future” as the operator moves from virtual machines to cloud-native, container-based operations orchestrated by Kubernetes that “greatly increases some of the operational simplicity. The network is becoming much more dynamic.”

Read more about that trial here. 

Gelsinger said, “Kubernetes is emerging as the de facto standard for multi-cloud modern apps,” and Pivotal “accelerates our broader any cloud, any app, any device vision and reinforces our leadership position in modern multi-cloud IT infrastructure.”

To learn more about VMware’s perspective on the telco market and 5G, check out this series of articles based on an interview with Di Piazza:

• The state of telco cloud adoption: The view from VMware (Part 1)

• ‘There needs to be an IT DNA’: The view from VMware (Part 2)

• Any application, any device, any cloud: The view from VMware (Part 3)