VMware CIO: 'I've worked for a lot of evil people in my career'

When you are the CIO of a company that sells to DSI, you have to understand that there is a good chance that you are asked to do more than keep the servers running.

"If you ask my CEO, he will say:" You are the voice of customers, "said Vasco Iyer, who was hired in March as CIO and senior vice president of VMware." 'You use these products, "say," Tell us if We build the right products for the market. "

Only much farther down the list of CEO Pat Gelsinger - after establishing relationships with customers and help build revenue, for example - would be operating "And oh, by the way, make sure everything works," he joked Iyer.

Iyer own list is a little different.

"It can not be the voice of the customer if the email is not working," he said. "There is a basic block and fight just to do it, the more I find myself operations and at a good price, I can spend more time with revenue generation."

Increasingly, Iyer plays a key role in testing the merits of the technology offerings of the company to show potential customers how they are used internally. It is not a sales position, he says, but almost more of a statement.

"I can not be a salesperson - I must be a first practice," he said. "People want to learn from us."

This is a family waiting for many in IT, but Iyer has over 25 years of experience. Prior to joining VMware, he was CIO of Juniper Networks, where his responsibilities included key services around business transformation services to global companies and services in the workplace. Further back, he served as CIO and e-commerce leader GlaxoSmithKline Beecham.

Now, eight months after his work in VMware, the first priority Iyer is what he calls "VMware VMware" or the practice of "drinking its own champagne" and the presentation of how the company's products in domestic work .

Facilitate collaboration is something else to focus on, as the great transformation taking place in the back-end systems, VMware.

"We have grown exponentially and are now at a stage where we need to implement new business models to support the next generation of growth," said one such example. "We sell licenses, but many of our customers are asking for subscriptions," he said. "We came to the bowels of our processes and ensure they get better."

Other important changes taking place in the market and VMware. Rising container Docker technologies such as, for example, is considered by many as a threat to virtualization that is the daily bread of VMware.

Iyer, however, are not concerned. "I went through so much hype cycle," he said.

Iyer asked IT staff to test the inner container technology, and likes he said.

It is "another tool to add to your arsenal," he said, but "I think VMware and containers are better together. To handle containers, you need the VMware management software has delivered for years."

Another potential change on the horizon is the proposed acquisition of $ 67 billion Dell EMC, which owns a majority stake in VMware.

"As a customer, I feel relieved to know that they will maintain independent VMware," Iyer said. "It helps IT managers to manage others, a complex environment of multiple suppliers, and what I have too."

From a business perspective, affiliation with Dell could also help VMware access to potential new customers.

"EMC helped us, and now we will have more scope," he said. "It could open more doors and give us more possibilities."

Ultimately, through the remains to be seen the case, but meanwhile, Iyer has his hands full. Today, finding the right talent is one of its greatest challenges.

"I'd rather have two good people of 200" bad, he said. "But how do you get when everyone seems to want them too?"

The talent has become a key differentiator in IT, and money is only part of what it takes to attract the right people, he believes. Rather, the best people want to work for the good people and businesses, he said, pointing to the VMware Foundation as a key element of the company's efforts in this direction.

"I work for a large number of bad people and bad in my career," Iyer said, "but I was young and thought it was part of learning."

Today, students have different expectations.

"They want more" do no evil "- they want to work for companies that are good," he said. "I talk a lot to change the world. It is not just about making money."

There are countless other challenges that businesses face today and, of course, but Iyer urges CIOs to remember that the field is now at the center of everything.

"It is the greatest facilitator for all companies," he said. "CIOs are the custodian of this, and it is a big responsibility. You have to be creative and open, and drive change."

It is also important to allow through collaboration rather than focusing on control, said: "You are the person that allows everyone across the enterprise, from the janitor to the CEO."

Finally, it is essential to remain fresh and open-minded, Iyer said.

In computing, each generation tends to remain innovative in the way of the next generation of products, he said. For example, "people do not take midrange mainframe, people will not adopt mobile PC," he said. "I become dogmatic."

Hoping to avoid this trend in itself, Iyer trying to learn the new generations through a kind of reverse mentoring. "The best way I have found is to talk to the next generation of people about the way they use their mobile devices, what they think of Uber and Facebook," he said.

"There are days when I feel like I've seen it all before," Iyer said. "You have to find a way to unlearn many things you have learned."