HPE Software Boss: Rising Memory Prices Are ‘Accelerating Demand’ For CloudOps Suite, VM Essentials

Rising memory prices are 'accelerating the demand' for HPE software including the CloudOps software suite and VM Essentials, according to HPE software executive Rocco Lavista.

Rising memory prices are “accelerating the demand” for HPE software including the CloudOps software suite and VM Essentials, said HPE Vice President and General Manager of Worldwide Hybrid CloudOps Software Sales Rocco Lavista.

“With the infrastructure challenges that we have [in the industry] and with the commodity [memory] costs [rising], I think it's actually accelerating the demand that we’re seeing for software,” said Lavista in an interview with CRN.

“If you’re a customer right now and you’ve got infrastructure out there, you’re on a normal refresh cycle, you’ve got a fixed budget—which we know they all do—and most of them are shrinking budgets—they have to try to solve with less. And what a better way to do that than to have a better operational experience on their existing infrastructure that they own today with the CloudOps [software] suite.”

Lavista said customers faced with rising memory costs can “extend the life of the infrastructure they own today” by layering in the CloudOps software suite with Morpheus, VM Essentials, OpsRamp and Zerto.

What’s more, Lavista said, “Given that the cost of hardware now has gone up because of commodities and everything that’s happening in the world and in the marketplace, VME [VM Essentials] has become an essential part of our customer conversations now.”

During HPE’s most recent quarterly earnings call, VM Essentials virtualization revenue grew sequentially for the third consecutive quarter, with high-double-digit new logo growth year-over-year, driven by what HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri called the “escalating cost of legacy virtualization software.” He said HPE’s “unique portfolio” of cloud management software, AIOps and platform services are building a “strong sales” pipeline.

HPE has doubled its sales rep team to dramatically grow its software business through the channel, said Lavista. “This is a significant opportunity for us to work with the channel and to work with all the customers that our partners are representing,” said Lavista of the ambitious HPE hybrid cloud software growth plan. “In terms of investments, it’s a very coordinated effort across all of HPE.”

HPE partners, for their part, said they see HPE software as a significant opportunity, especially VM Essentials as an alternative to Broadcom-VMware.

Broadcom-VMware declined to comment.

C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Independence, Ohio-based Advizex, a Myriad360 company, said HPE software provides a big boost to help partners navigate the current memory shortage and supply chain crisis.

“With what we are challenged with in terms of the current memory supply chain challenges, HPE software and the services we can provide is a significant opportunity for us to grow our business with HPE,” said Howdyshell. He said he expects Advizex’s HPE software business to grow by at least 20 percent this year.

Advizex recently closed a $1.2 million HPE VM Essentials deal with a county government over a potential seven-year period that was less expensive than a three-year VMware renewal, said Howdyshell.

“Clearly, customers are looking for options to handle the challenges associated with some of the [Broadcom-VMware] cost changes,” said Howdyshell. “It doesn’t mean that their VMware business is going to completely go away. Being a good HPE partner, we have already sold a few [VM Essentials] deals and we expect to do more.”

Bob Panos, president of American Digital, Schaumburg, Ill., a top HPE partner, said his company is also starting to gain traction with HPE’s software including VM Essentials and Morpheus Enterprise in the wake of dramatic price increases from Broadcom-VMware.

“The No. 1 conversation we’re having with our customers is what are their options to get off some or all of their VMware footprint,” said Panos. “Everybody wants to talk about it. The question is how much of that can we convert into sales. We’ve already sold some of it, and we expect to sell more of it. It’s a big, big opportunity. HPE is going all in with us. Every month they are coming out with enhancements to VM Essentials.”

With Morpheus, Panos said, HPE has a big advantage versus competitors, providing hybrid cloud management across public, private cloud and the edge. “We’re going all in on Morpheus too,” he said.

Panos said he sees the HPE software offensive as a critical partner differentiator. “It’s a huge opportunity because that is where the value is,” he said. “There is a lot of value in HPE’s software. It is unique HPE intellectual property. We are doubling down on anything that is HPE’s IP. Our technical team’s training focus is to learn these products and know them well so we can take them to our customers.”

Panos credited Neri with acquiring innovative software companies that sets HPE apart including Morpheus Data in 2024, OpsRamp in 2023 and Zerto in 2021. “All these products are leaders in their field,” said Panos. “HPE is now a real player in a lot of different markets. It’s exciting to be a partner with HPE right now.”

Scott Dunsire, CEO of Melillo Consulting, a Somerset, N.J., HPE partner, said his company also sees HPE software and VM Essentials as a significant opportunity. “Customers are asking us for options,” he said. “They see what is going on with Broadcom as unacceptable.”

Lavista, for his part, said the HPE software story goes well beyond Broadcom-VMware and VM Essentials with the HPE CloudOps suite.

“With our CloudOps we are helping our customers get control back across all of it, not just on-premises, but with everything they’re doing in public cloud,” he said. “And you cannot find another vendor that is offering solutions like this across the stack from observability to automation and orchestration to backup and recovery and cyber resiliency.”

As for the growth for HPE Software, Lavista said: “Our growth expectation is the biggest growth expectation that I’ve ever signed up for in my career. It’s literally like doubling the business. I think we’re only touching the surface of what we can be doing. That’s why we keep stressing the importance of the channel and the partner organization. For us, it’s about reach and scale, and the partners in the channel are going to help us with that reach and scale. We are enabling partners and making make sure it’s a services-led sales approach.”