Private cloud is experiencing a renaissance, driven by the surge in AI adoption and growing enterprise demands for data control. With the market projected to expand from $92 billion in 2023 to $405 billion by 2033, organizations are increasingly looking to private cloud solutions that offer public cloud-like capabilities while maintaining control over sensitive data and infrastructure.
In this exclusive VMblog interview, Richard Munro from Broadcom discusses how AI is reshaping private cloud adoption, VMware’s approach to Private AI, and why CIOs should rethink their cloud strategies in an era where data privacy and AI innovation have become mission-critical priorities.
VMblog: To kick us off, how do you define “private cloud,” and why do you think there’s so much confusion around its meaning?
Richard Munro: IT organizations have always known what a private cloud should be – the benefits of the public cloud and the benefits of private environments in one. But the term “private cloud” is often used loosely by vendors, leading to varied interpretations and creating market confusion. At its core, a private cloud should deliver a full cloud operating model with self-service, automation, scalability, and governance that’s on par with public cloud capabilities, while allowing enterprises complete control over their data and infrastructure. The confusion arises because many solutions branded as private cloud fall short in delivering these essentials, either by lacking automation or missing key compliance and control features.
While experience to date has not really delivered the ideological promise of private cloud, the ask from businesses to have one has not gone away, it’s grown in importance. In fact, we’re seeing incredible growth in the private cloud markets. Future Market Insights says it’s set to surge from $92 billion in 2023 to a staggering $405 billion in 2033. Meanwhile, a survey published in a report on repatriation from IDC in June 2024, more than 80% of respondents expected to see some level of repatriation in the coming year.
Overall, the demand for private cloud is intensifying as enterprises grapple with the need for greater control over data privacy, sovereignty, and compliance – and that’s especially true when you consider how AI applications are quickly becoming more central to business operations.
VMblog: Private cloud has been a mainstream architecture for years now. How is AI specifically driving a “renaissance” for this technology?
Munro: With AI, risks around security, compliance, reputation, and IP protection are significantly greater than with most other application types, but the potential benefits are greater too. This leads to businesses wanting to leverage the best of AI, but to do it safely in an affordable and confident way. In other words, privately.
Private clouds offer the flexibility, security, and efficiency to handle AI workloads adjacent to sensitive data, which can significantly reduce risks and costs compared to public cloud environments. This resurgence is fueled by this desire to bring AI workloads closer to their data to provide performance and cost improvements while protecting IP.
But also, since our ability to quickly prove that a private cloud platform can indeed deliver advanced capabilities like AI with enterprise control, it also leads to the question ‘Well why can’t I get these benefits for all my applications, existing and new?’. The answer is you can, with a private cloud platform. This increased need for private cloud, and the modern capabilities of a true private cloud platform are driving this ‘renaissance’ where benefits that once seemed out of reach are now not just possible, but relatively easy to come by.
VMblog: What are some limitations of public clouds that make private clouds a more suitable choice for enterprises today?
Munro: Public clouds can be valuable, but they are best suited for only some workload types and come with challenges around cost, complexity, and compliance, particularly for organizations with stringent data privacy requirements. In contrast, private clouds can reduce costs, provide greater financial transparency, and can be tailored to meet an enterprise’s specific security and governance needs. In built infrastructure resilience and optimizations for all workload types from mission critical to AI, create the performance, flexibility, and efficiency drivers that are needed in most organizations.
VMblog: How does Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation address the challenges of implementing a private cloud with a cloud operating model?
Munro: VMware Cloud Foundation is designed to deliver a full cloud operating model within a private environment. It enables the use of modern capabilities needed by cloud-native applications and AI, while providing governed self-service backed by powerful automation, efficiency, and enterprise controls. This ensures that organizations not only achieve cloud agility but also have the privacy, security, and governance required for today’s sensitive workloads. Flexible deployment options also support the need for more specialized operating models such as requiring data sovereignty.
VMblog: What can you tell me about VMware Private AI? How does this approach support organizations in deploying AI securely?
Munro: The reality is that AI is about getting value from data. Data that needs to be protected. We need to bring the best of any AI technology to the data, not the other way around.
We introduced VMware Private AI at VMware Explore Las Vegas 2023. When designing VMware Private AI as a solution to the GenAI challenge, we realized that the characteristics of private cloud allowed us to give organizations the ability to exploit the best ways to both utilize and manage AI securely.
The architecture provides flexible access to the latest in AI technologies while advanced automation and optimization tools help protect data, simplify processes, and accelerate AI projects.
The value of AI in the enterprise needs to be your value because it is your data. VMware Private AI ensures that private data is handled with consent, delivering a secure environment for businesses to adapt to evolving AI needs without compromising compliance or data integrity.
AI projects on bare metal or with public services can be expensive, difficult, and risky. VMware Private AI tackles those challenges head-on reducing cost, removing complexity, and providing the tools to manage AI responsibly.
VMblog: What distinguishes Broadcom’s approach to Private AI from other players in the market?
Munro: I think our approach to Private AI stands out because we focus on the platform that enables an AI ecosystem including both commercial and open-source AI models. This is a fast shifting landscape and you do not want to be stuck with limited options in terms of which AI technology you can take advantage of.
VMware technology also has years of mature innovation in AI critical infrastructure requirements such as resource-scheduling which is why benchmarks typically showing same-as or better-than bare metal performance. Our partnership with NVIDIA also enables AI deployments that are not only secure but also scalable and cost-effective, coupled with the very best of NVIDIA hardware and software to really help turn expensive AI hype into realistic AI business value.
VMblog: So, looking ahead – given the growing importance of private cloud, what strategic priorities should CIOs focus on?
Munro: Cloud strategies are languishing and CIOs are spending too much time on IT surviving rather than thriving. The time is right for CIOs to prioritize creating a robust, efficient private cloud that can meet their current needs as well as the growing demands to support AI, data privacy, and operational efficiency. By leveraging private cloud platforms like VMware Cloud Foundation, CIOs can ensure their organization is well-prepared to handle complex workloads, enhance data security, and achieve a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) through optimized resource use. This strategic shift is crucial to meet evolving business expectations in a digital-first world.
VMblog: What steps should CIOs take to ensure their private cloud investments align with their business needs?
Munro: CIOs should start by clearly identifying their specific business goals and compliance needs. Understanding what they aim to achieve – whether it be enhanced data protection, operational efficiency, or advanced analytics – can help them filter out vendors who might be unable to meet these demands.
It is also crucial to assess whether investments in potential solutions meet your specific needs. Is it truly private? Does it truly enable a cloud operating model? Is it really a platform that I can run any of my workloads on as easily as another? This avoids running foul of mis-aligned expectations and ending up with yet more bespoke silos and snowflake architectures.
VMblog: What’s next for the private cloud evolution?
Munro: The private cloud is becoming an increasingly strategic priority for enterprise leaders as they aim to enhance agility, secure sensitive data, and enable AI innovations. Moving forward, any debate over whether you need one is going away. In a world where CIO’s are offered many options that involve huge amounts of work and don’t solve problems, we at Broadcom are instead investing heavily in providing easy adoption of a private cloud platform that allows CIOs to demonstrate real value from Day 1. That value return can then be increased in incremental steps as confidence from the organization improves.
For all the advanced capabilities that are made available, the fastest impact comes from just getting out of the mire and making the basics, like lifecycle management, easy. When the basics are made easy and valuable resources and skills are freed up from maintenance, that’s when innovation begins.
VMware is focused on leading this private cloud strategy with solutions that meet you where you are, deliver tangible results at speed, and take you wherever you want to go.
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