Raghu Raghuram On Nutanix, Dell Spin-off and Channel Partners

VMware’s new CEO Raghu Raghuram is ready to take his company into its “next phase of growth” as VMware strives to become the king of multi-cloud computing while transforming itself into an enterprise SaaS company.

“That really is what I was appointed to do, to make us the leader in multi-cloud computing. That’s really the focus of the next few years,” said Raghuram in an interview with CRN. “I’m really looking forward to taking this company to the next phase of growth along with 34,000 of my best friends in the company.”

The $12 billion Palo Alto, Calif.-based company announced Wednesday Raghuram as VMware’s new CEO, replacing former CEO Pat Gelsinger who left this year to lead Intel. Raghuram is an 18-year VMware veteran with vast experience inside the company both as a technologist and executive leader. He was previously VMware’s worldwide chief operating officer of Products and Cloud Services, responsible for all of the company’s product and service offerings as well as centralized services, support and operational functions.

In an interview with CRN, Raghuram talks about competing with Nutanix, what Dell Technologies’ spin-off of VMware will enable, as well as his vision for VMware’s large channel partner base.