As a trusted leader in enterprise software, with a rich history of building enterprise-grade distributed systems primed for continuous transformation, VMware is well positioned to bring the power of Blockchain to the enterprise. As the GM of the Blockchain business unit at VMware, I am excited to be part of the organization that is building blockchain solutions from the ground-up to meet enterprise requirements for business-critical use cases.
Next-gen enterprises will move beyond company boundaries to deliver value to their customers and partners by harnessing end-to-end cross industry workflows. Today multi-party workflows are difficult and highly complex. Data is often siloed within enterprise boundaries, resulting in inefficient and costly steps to share and reconcile data across these boundaries. Enterprises seek ecosystem friendly solutions that create a shared source of truth, and establish trust while maintaining privacy, making multi-party workflows far more efficient.
A New Approach
Building on VMware’s legacy of bringing a software foundation to enterprises that enables any app, on any device on any cloud, our approach is to develop an enterprise-grade blockchain platform that supports a range of smart contract languages; that can be deployed on premises, in the cloud or in hybrid-cloud environments; and that meets the needs of multi-party networks for private and permissioned use-cases. With this breadth, enterprises can invest in a blockchain platform that gives them the enterprise features they need for production today and the flexibility to adapt to future needs in the rapidly evolving blockchain space.
Platform to establish trust while maintaining privacy
Public blockchains establish trust among network peers but do not provide privacy, while existing enterprise blockchain solutions focus on offering privacy at the expense of trust. Engineering for the best of both, our approach provides new transactional paradigms, establishing trust while maintaining privacy.
Decentralized trust with Scalable Byzantine Fault Tolerance
Scalable-BFT, designed by VMware’s research team in the Office of the CTO, forms the foundation of our approach. SBFT is designed to solve the problems of scale and performance in blockchain solutions while preserving liveness (fault-tolerance) and safety (defense against malicious attacks). SBFT maintains decentralized trust and supports ongoing governance in multi-party networks.
Distributed Ledger Technology underlies data privacy and integrity
Cryptographically signed immutable records enable enterprises in a multi-party network to independently verify data as being the source of truth.
Virtualized smart contract execution engine
Our platform architecture includes a virtual smart contract execution engine that is designed to easily extend the platform to support additional smart contract languages and simplify interoperability between applications written in different languages.
Multi-party networks
In multi-party or permissioned networks, each participating entity in the consortium brings their unique heritage of technology, preference for deployment model and language of choice. Our approach supports a range of smart contract languages and deployment models so that members of a consortium can participate in the same network while maintaining their preferences.
Enterprise-grade performance, scalability, reliability and day-2 operations
VMware has at its core the enterprise mission. Recognizing the importance of day-2 operations to enable enterprises to bring their blockchain solutions to production, our approach brings all characteristics notable in our enterprise portfolio to our blockchain solutions, including ease of deployment, monitoring, management and world class support.
VMware understands enterprise software requirements for business-critical applications and has a legacy of driving efficiencies across the business value continuum. Recognizing that blockchain adoption rates are varied across industries, we are partnering with some of the best and brightest enterprises in various phases of adoption as we move forward in this new construct.
Remaining true to VMware DNA, our goal is to deliver enterprise-grade blockchain solutions in a future-ready architecture so you can deploy your apps in production with confidence, and the investment you make today will withstand the test of time in your blockchain journey.
Watch this space for more from my team.
Brendon Howe is accomplished executive with 30+ years of success in Product Strategy and General Manager Leadership across early-stage to Fortune 500 companies. As Vice President and General Manager of VMware’s Blockchain business, he is focused on driving product and business strategy for this newly formed, high growth business for VMware. Prior to joining VMware, Brendon spent 13 years at NetApp in a variety of General Manager roles ranging from the core network-attached-storage business to new, emerging products including NetApp’s first cloud services offerings. Before that he worked for a number of early stage startups in the data storage and networking technology areas. Brendon serves on the Board of Directors of Digital Asset Inc and a number of Advisory Board roles.
