During VMworld we interviewed Matteo Uva (Channel Manager - VMware) and Hervé Renault (Senior Director Partners & General BUsiness Souther Europe, Middle East, Africa - VMware).

Beside the news introduced in this VMworld, how does VMware deal with such a particularly fragmented channel that faces with difficulties the innovations and new technologies?
(Hervé Renault replies) VMware is well positioned in the channel and tries to take advantage of the distributors and resellers to better face the difficult panorama of small and medium businesses in Italy.
The never-stopping evolution of technologies must make us to continuously change, aiming to understand the needs of the clients and offering the best product in every situation.

Matteo, you’ve been following the Italian channel for years, has your approach changed?

M.U.: The main line is always to realize a “tailored” product for the client. Challenges that nowadays we face with products like NSX for networking or public cloud offers are naturally different than the past, when it was hard to make make the audience to understand the advantages of the more advanced virtualization and consolidation solutions.
But VMware tries to be quick in adapting by seeking -if necessary- distributors and resellers suitable for the new needs.

How do you relate with Software Defined Data Center, in particular with respect to the hyper-convergent solutions? Are they, in some way, substituting the traditional approach in your offering?
H.R.:VMware leaves the greatest freedom of choice, therefore even if it offers its own SDDC solution, we don’t think about it as a substitute of traditional systems or the already existing infrastructures with two or more hosts and traditional storages. The client just has one more solution to choose and adapt according to the needs. 
What we have really improved is the governance with products such as vRealize that bring a plenty of innovation and new levels of automation.