Broadcom CEO Hock Tan kicked off the VMware Explore conference in Las Vegas with a bold keynote, urging attendees to favor the latest VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on-premises over hyperscale public cloud providers.

Figure 1. Broadcom CEO Urges Return from Public Cloud to On-Premises Infrastructure.

“Many of you are still burdened by your existing infrastructure and hesitant to move forward,” Tan said. “So how do you let go of your IT past and build for the future? The answer is not to rush to public cloud like you did five or ten years ago. If you’re going to adopt cloud, do it right—embrace VCF 9.0 and stay on-prem.” Figure 1 shows Broadcom CEO Urges Return from Public Cloud to On-Premises Infrastructure.

He referenced a global survey of IT professionals earlier this year, which found that seven out of ten plan to return to on-premises solutions. While enterprises are eager to invest in private cloud, Tan noted that VMware had previously struggled to fully integrate its core cloud components.

“Since the acquisition two years ago, we’ve done the hard engineering work, and today VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 offers a true software-defined platform capable of running all your application workloads with fully integrated computer, networking, and storage,” he said. “This is exactly what our customers have been asking for.”

Launched in June, VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 marked a major overhaul, delivering a unified private cloud platform with improvements in management, automation, multi-tenancy, and storage efficiency. Tan highlighted that this release is the first to offer all components in a single SKU, eliminating the need for piecemeal assembly that was required in prior versions.

A single operations console now gives administrators a centralized dashboard for monitoring, lifecycle management, and configuration of both on-premises and cloud resources. The new SecOps dashboard provides real-time insights into platform security and data controls, with built-in compliance and policy enforcement features.

VCF 9.0 also introduces native multi-tenancy with Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) constructs, enabling tenant isolation, secure workload segmentation, and simplified resource management—particularly beneficial for service providers and regulated industries.

At the conference, Broadcom announced plans to include Private AI Services in VCF at no additional cost, a package previously sold as an add-on. The new offering is expected to be available between November 2025 and January 2026.

Matt Kimball, vice president and principal analyst for data center compute and storage at Moor Insights & Strategy, acknowledged Tan’s point, noting that it is valid even if self-serving. “The cost and complexity of managing multiple public clouds are leading IT and business leaders to rethink their cloud strategies,” he said.

However, Kimball emphasized that this is less about repatriation and more about rationalization. “It’s about finding the right balance between on-premises and cloud workloads, and understanding what you control through VCF versus what you entrust to cloud service providers. This is an ongoing exercise. IT leaders fail their organizations if they aren’t continually assessing their data estate and evaluating workload placement based on cost, security, complexity, and compliance.”

Source: NETWORK WORLD

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2025), Broadcom CEO Calls for Shift from Cloud Back to on-Premises Infrastructure, AnaTechMaz, pp.168