(upbeat music)
>> Good afternoon.
Welcome back to "The Cube."
Lisa Martin here with Dave Nicholson.
We are live in San Francisco
at Moscone West for VMware Explorer, 2022.
Where we're excited to welcome a new Cube guest
to the program.
Steve Bravo joins us the SVP of Edge Technology at Lumen.
Great to have you on the program.
>> Thank you very much for having me.
Appreciate it.
>> Welcome.
>> Talk to us a little bit about,
we've had several conversations with Lumen folks
over the last day and a half
but talk to us a little bit about it from your perspective
the VMware relationship with Lumen.
>> Okay.
So it's actually, we have been partners
for the last 20 years when VMware was really
cutting its teeth in the virtualized space,
Lumen and one of its companies
that it acquired through time was really a cutting edge user
of VMware technologies.
And as time has evolved
and VMware's technologies have evolved
we have grown with VMware.
So much of the software they write
is embedded not only within our network,
but on our Edge platforms
and extended out to the hyperscalers
as well as in the client prem.
So it's an ever growing partnership
and one that we're continually innovating
and creating better outcomes
for really the enterprise space.
>> Talk about those enterprise customers
and some of the outcomes that you're helping to deliver.
What's the joint value prop
that Lumen and VM bring to the enterprise?
>> So really stronger together.
If you think about the strengths that Lumen has,
it's really our network.
We call that our central nervous system, our platform.
So all of our Edge technologies
and compute capabilities that we're able to deploy
in our Edge centers, data centers globally,
as well as out to prem, we lay the software technologies
that VMware creates not only from a virtualized sense
but also through sassy, through security
and also out to workspace one.
So it's their entire suite.
We're able to support it.
So with those, we create amazing technology solutions
to serve the enterprise, whether it's healthcare,
whether it's manufacturing, retail space,
the customers are plenty and the use cases are endless.
>> You talked about your history and at the foundation
of what you do, this idea
of a central nervous system, the network.
If we wanted to completely geek out,
we could just talk about that
for an hour. >> Sure, we could.
>> But we're not going to.
(laughs)
We were talking before we came on live,
about Lumen's philosophy
and how you're taking that foundation, that network,
that central nervous system,
and you have a philosophy
about what you want to achieve with it
and the other things you layer on top of it.
Tell us about that.
'Cause I thought that was interesting.
>> It's really all about furthering
human progress with technology.
We're very lucky that we have the global network
that we do, but the workloads, right?
The applications that make really life go round
in today's world lives in forms and factors
of compute that hang off of the network.
We're very lucky that we can bring that all together.
So over the years, every enterprise has a different need.
They're trying to solve a problem.
We want to help them solve that problem.
We bring our technology, our capabilities, our experience
and experts to really cater to and be that partner
that can build the entire stack for them
to allow them to be very, very efficient
in their place of competition.
>> So I want to hear a concrete example of that in action,
but I think it's interesting,
not just from what is happening on the outside perspective
but it's also very interesting culturally
from an organizational perspective.
When you wake up in the morning and you have that mindset
that that's what your mission is,
that's a lot different than waking up
in the morning thinking
I'm going to deploy 50 terabytes of storage.
>> Absolutely.
>> I'm going to install nine ports
and yellow cables and blue cables in my switch.
>> That's right.
>> Thinking you're toiling and obscurity.
So everybody in Lumen, then is waking up
with this mission in mind,
which makes the day a lot easier
to get through when you're having to work hard
but gimme a concrete example of that in motion.
>> Sure.
So it's actually, it's about those outcomes
and those use cases.
I explain to my kids sometimes they're like,
"Dad, tell me me what you do."
And if you start talking
about the cables and the compute, their eyes gloss over.
But if I say to them, remember when you were sick
and it was during COVID and you couldn't go to the doctor.
And we were able to pop open the computer
and we were able to see a doctor
on the screen and they had you stick your tongue out
and do all the things, you got care.
And we were able to deliver that based on our platform,
based on our network.
We helped healthcare providers go remote to see patients
as COVID was happening
and people were going to the hospital.
So that's just a real world scenario
that we did for a very large network
when people were dealing with it.
They needed to really expand horizontally
to allow care providers to operate in different areas,
and we were able to hit it out of the park.
>> That's a great explanation.
Did your kids go, "Wow, dad, that's awesome."
>> Absolutely.
Absolutely. But then they're like, "Anything else?
Is there anything else cool?"
And talk about sporting stadiums,
lighting up a different venue where they go
and they're able to, from their phone order a soda
or a pretzel and with the different sensors
from an io2.
>> Now you're talking. >> Yeah.
>> They're like, "Dad, you guys did this."
"Yes."
So it resonates.
And those use cases, if you think about the building blocks
whether it's the medical scenario or a smart stadium,
the building blocks are very similar and we're lucky enough
that you put those building blocks together
in a prescriptive way for a specific outcome.
You're able to play with strikes,
you're able to get better scale and you're able to move fast
because the technology industry we're in,
I mean, it's moving at light speeds.
>> As the Edge grows and grows
and expands and becomes more and more amorphous.
How have your customer conversations changed
as there's more demand for every company
to become a data company to be a security company.
How have they elevated up the stack to the C-suite?
>> We've really had to just pivot
to talking about that outcome, that entity,
that enterprise is really trying to achieve.
If you think about the two examples,
another one it could be very cost-driven.
It could be that we need to get to market
in a much more rapid fashion at a global level.
How can we stamp things out quickly?
So you take those outcomes,
show them how the technology's going to enable it,
and then you can really open the door for the return, right?
Did you get the cost savings?
Yes.
Did you achieve that time to market for,
it could be seasonality, right?
People don't have to pay for the full boat anymore.
If, let's say, they're an online marketplace
and it's huge around the seasons, around the holiday season,
there's going to be big peaks that they have there.
We like to be able to have them burst and ebb and flow.
So it's all about that outcome.
And getting to that, the technology pieces
you just put them together to accommodate
>> What does your go-to market strategy look like?
How do you engage with customers?
There are finite number of seats, strategic seats
at a customer table.
Are you typically going in arm-and-arm
with partners and alliances?
What does that ecosystem look like?
Or do you have a direct sales force that engages customers?
>> Yeah.
>> Tell me about how the whole thing works.
>> Sure. So we have a direct sales force
and we like to play to our strengths.
So we have great alliance partners as well.
So that arm-and-arm absolutely happens
where we are heavily connected already at C-suites.
They're able to walk in
and make those types of relationships and outcomes a reality
but we find that we're better with partners playing
to their strengths with us.
If we come in and show up and we have that complete stack,
the software experts as well, our assets,
our platform, our network, it's really a one, two, punch,
wrap with our service capabilities
at a global level that it's unbeatable.
So we show up to the very best of our abilities
with our alliances.
And then with those more steep relationships
where we've been there,
where we have the relationships,
there's more of a trust factor,
but it's all about building trust.
And we got to show up appropriately to do that.
>> So if it's unbeatable, why do customers choose Lumen?
What's the value prop that you talk to customers about?
>> So if you think about a COO or CIO or CTO,
and all of the different things you need to purchase
to make outcomes a reality, whether it's network,
whether it's compute, whether it's storage,
whether it's software, whether it's people,
it becomes very easy
if you have a partner that can do all of that for you
and it's their assets, right?
So we have those assets, we have those...
Our employees are absolutely our greatest asset,
in my opinion at a global level.
And then we partner with the biggest software manufacturers
like an AWS or a VMware, and we load it into our fabric.
And now we have literally the entire stack there.
It's a single hand to shake rather than,
I need to go to a network provider,
go to compute provider, storage,
firewall, security, you get that holistic solution approach,
makes it far easier.
And that's a huge differentiator.
>> And you said, AWS?
>> Yeah, we work with them too.
>> You work with all?
>> All the hyperscalers. >> Okay, okay.
>> If you think about the cloud,
I'll say the big three, right?
AWS, Google, and Microsoft, everything is using the cloud
and the fact that we can connect to it in dynamic ways
and extend that experience all the way out to our edge
and On-Prem and deliver the same experience,
again, massive differentiator.
>> So from your customer's point of view,
you can be agnostic?
>> Yes.
>> So you can say, "Well, Azure for this,
AWS for that, maybe run VMware
in both context." >> 100%.
>> Interesting stat that was brought up to Lisa and I
yesterday through the VCPP Program,
the VMware Cloud Provider Program.
If you aggregate all of that cloud stuff that's going on,
that becomes the third or fourth largest cloud on earth.
So a lot of the messaging,
of stuff they're talking about now has to do with that.
So for example, you could be involved in deploying
that software defined data center stack
in a variety of hyperscale class
where appropriate for people.
>> Yes. 100%.
And whether it's in the hyperscalers
or in their own data center in one of our platforms,
the biggest differentiators, it's going to be the same.
You have that partner that can do it for you
no matter where the venue is.
So that's really the coming of hybrid cloud, very agnostic.
But I always say, it's the best venue.
You have different applications,
you're going to need different things build it to suit.
And when you do that, and it's not pushing one way,
you're taking the requirements, you build trust.
And when you build trust,
you build long-lasting relationships with your clients
and that's what it's about.
And you then make more great outcomes of reality.
>> Right, that trust is absolutely critical.
It's currency.
It really is.
Talk about, you have a joint innovation lab with VMware.
Talk a little bit about that.
What is it all about?
How have you guys been doing it?
What exciting things are coming from it?
>> So we launched that about 18 months ago.
Some amazing thinkers on our team
and their team came together,
and it's really to keep pace with the market.
So platforms and software evolve at a certain pace
and it's always speeding up, but creating use cases
within that lab to solve a common core set of problems
for maybe a specific vertical
is really what it's intended to do.
So when the software's ready,
is an incubation engine that we're testing these use cases.
So we can then go deploy
and begin solving immediately when market-ready.
So it puts us ahead of the game.
It gives us those at bats
so we're very comfortable deploying.
And I say, created that muscle memory before
you're going live in a client environment
and then you can show, and seeing is believing.
So there are multiple just,
I'll say different OT use cases that we're doing right now
5G wireless, untethered headsets, things of that nature.
You think about some of the VI and AI capabilities
that are emerging whether it's digital twin,
whether it's literally IoT sensors with packages,
tracking those types of things, the use cases are endless.
But the cool thing about it is you're testing
those building blocks that I keep referring to,
and you're expanding the portfolio of use cases
that you can solve with them.
And when you start to see patterns,
you now have use cases that can solve
many similar needs and outcomes.
So it's a huge differentiator.
We're lucky to have the teams,
the collective teams together
making those outcomes a reality.
Some of the best technologies I've ever seen.
>> So the joint innovation lab formed about 18 months ago
during the pandemic.
What was the compelling event or was that part of it?
Or was it customer demand that caused you guys
to go, "You know what,
let's come together and actually build a joint lab."
>> We saw how fast things were moving.
We wanted to say,
okay, as something's getting ready to roll out
let's start testing it before it's market-ready.
So when it does, we can hit market
and begin generating those outcomes immediately.
And it took a little doing,
but it came to place very quickly, like minds, right?
Thinking the right way, you get a good outcome.
>> So if you think about the way that a lot of consolidation
has happened over recent years,
you have large cloud vendors, including VMware.
If you accept that definition of their partner program,
spanning their software
to find data center stack across clouds.
And then on the other side of the chasm,
you have the organizations that help people
take the technology and move it into the realm of outcomes,
doing actual things with the shiny toys.
It's one thing to develop the shiny toys,
it's another thing to get value out of them.
You guys are in that middle space, that critical space.
So are the largest global systems integrators in the world.
So how do you work with or are you strictly competitive
with the alphabet soup of global systems integrators?
Where do you fit into that space?
>> So again, go back to those,
the assets and the capabilities that we have,
the power users of software.
We have a manage and professional services organization
and it's all about, I'll say day zero, day one.
Think of that consultative professional services
approach to literally discover, define, design,
analyze what that outcome is, and then build and deploy.
So migration, transition of workloads,
all tee it up for the day two type capabilities.
Where we are different,
those assets that we're building on are ours.
The Accentures, the Deloittes, they're amazing.
They're also sourcing network.
They're sourcing compute, they're sourcing edge.
They're sourcing things from other third providers.
We are the power users of our capabilities
that makes us the best at it.
So that integration,
we have the instructions to put those Legos together
better than anybody else.
>> Well, so does that mean that you are best targeting
at a certain market segment
where possibly would you seed some market
to the largest of global systems integrators at some point?
>> Sure.
So there are certain things that they are amazing at, right?
Think about some of the biggest ERM applications
and things like that.
We're power users and power deployers of SAP.
That's really the niche is high up
that will go into the app stack.
Doing the dynamics, doing different types of Oracle suites
and things of that nature.
Let them go there, but enabling applications
to live on our platforms and across our networks,
we play to our strengths there.
Leveraging software technologies
like VMware and the hyperscalers,
that's really where,
I don't want to say it's their hard boundaries,
but again, it's boundaries where we have strength.
We will always want to play to our strengths.
And be honest, if you're honest about your capabilities,
you will win the business that you were great at.
And that's what we do.
>> Yeah, I think there's huge opportunity
in that space, frankly.
I think not too long ago, when asked,
I think a lot of people would say,
it's all going to be consolidation.
There's going to be five standing over here,
five standing over there and they're going to work together
and everyone else is going to have to go work for those people.
What we've seen is organizations like Lumen ,
taking their historical capabilities and finding that space.
>> Sure.
>> It's really, really interesting to see that.
>> There's one thing that I'll add too.
And the way of the world is automation and orchestration.
When you own the platforms,
when you own the technologies that you're able to work with,
you're able to evolve those capabilities
and it stays your intellectual property.
That intellectual property gives you amazing scale too.
So that's one of the things that we've been
lucky enough to do,
is we're continually working and involving
that suite of orchestration and automation,
that layers on top of our platform.
Our platform for amazing things,
it's that automation orchestration
is very key to making it go round.
>> Speaking of amazing things, what are some of the things
on the horizon for Lumen and VMware?
What can customers look forward to in the coming months?
>> So yesterday we actually just launched our SASE offering.
So that's amazing and great job
to the product teams for that.
>> I gave one of your colleagues grief yesterday.
He didn't appreciate it.
I'm sure, but it's considered a party foul too.
Let's remind people what SASE stands for.
>> So Secure Access Service Edge, basically.
All right. Software to find networking
plus security it's really becomes a dynamic network, right?
One that can live, breathe and grow.
And VMware has amazing technology that we are leveraging.
That's really the overlay network for our network.
And then we're also even scaling that out to include
carbon black security offerings as well as workspace one.
So those are additional evolutions.
Some of the further enhancements with Tanzu and Kubernetes
right in the portfolio as well.
So as that capability expands
so does the efforts that we have with it.
>> Fantastic.
>> Awesome. Steve, thank you so much
for joining Dave and me
on the program. >> I really
appreciate it. >> Talking about Lumen
and what's going on there,
how you're working better together with VMware
and the outcomes that you're delivering for customers.
We appreciate your time.
>> Thank you very much.
Greatly appreciate it.
>> Our pleasure.
>> Thank you.
>> For our guest and Dave Nicholson, I'm Lisa Martin.
You're watching "The Cube".
Day-two coverage of VMware Explorer 2022.
Dave and I will be right back with our next guest.
So don't change the channel.
(upbeat music)