
The Virtually Speaking Podcast is a weekly technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware topics related to private and hybrid cloud. Each week Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from VMware, recently acquired by Broadcom, and within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise.
Episodes

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
VMware Cloud Foundation 9: A Modern, Unified, and Secure Platform
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
Welcome to the second episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VMware Cloud Foundation 9 series! In this installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson continue their deep dive into VMware Cloud Foundation 9 with Director of VCF Product Marketing Rick Walsworth.
Key Highlights:
- Simplified deployment as a single, unified platform
- Enhanced user experience for cloud infrastructure admins and developers
- Three key business outcomes: modernizing infrastructure, operating like a cloud, and ensuring security
- Improved configuration drift detection and proactive management
- Advanced security services, including network detection and response
- Self-service capabilities for developers
- Insights into workload repatriation and private cloud advantages
- Potential for handling sensitive AI and intellectual property workloads
Join us as we continue to explore the transformative features and capabilities of VCF 9 in this ongoing podcast series.

Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
VMware Cloud Foundation 9 Vision and Strategy
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Welcome to the first episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast's VMware Cloud Foundation 9 series! In this inaugural installment, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Paul Turner, Broadcom’s leader of VCF product management, to kick off an in-depth exploration of VMware Cloud Foundation 9. This series will dive deep into the platform's latest innovations, capabilities, and transformative potential for private cloud computing.
Key Highlights:
- The rise of private cloud and its cost-efficiency compared to public cloud services
- Sovereign cloud capabilities and regulatory compliance
- Innovations in GPU as a service
- Native support for VMs and Kubernetes in a single platform
- Advances in storage (vSAN) with enhanced performance and resilience
- Networking improvements with native VPC setup in vCenter
- VMware's partnerships with hyperscalers and 500+ cloud service providers
Join us as we unpack the exciting developments in VCF 9 across multiple episodes.

Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Exploring VMware Cloud Foundation 9
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is now Generally Available! For the next several days we will be releasing several episodes in our series titled Exploring VMware Cloud Foundation 9. This series takes you behind the scenes with the product experts, engineers, and visionaries driving the VCF 9 transformation. Whether you’re an infrastructure architect, IT leader, or just cloud-curious, these conversations offer real-world insights into how VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is modernizing private cloud infrastructure to support AI, automation, security, and much more. Enjoy!

Friday Feb 28, 2025
VMware Telco Cloud at Mobile World Congress 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
In this episode of Virtually Speaking, we’re gearing up for Mobile World Congress 2025 with Paul Turner, VP of Products, and Anupama, Telco Lead for Product Marketing at Broadcom. We dive into Broadcom’s bold vision for the Telco Data Center, focusing on how simplification, unification, and automation are transforming network operations. With the theme “Your Telco Data Center. Simplified. Unified. Automated.”, Broadcom is set to showcase innovations that help Telcos accelerate service delivery, reduce costs, and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market. Tune in to get a sneak peek at what’s coming at MWC 2025!

Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Private Clouds and their Public Value with David Linthicum
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Private clouds are often misunderstood—seen as expensive, inflexible, and unable to scale like public cloud solutions. But are these perceptions accurate? In this episode of Virtually Speaking, cloud strategist David Linthicum joins us to challenge these misconceptions and explore how private cloud infrastructure has evolved.
David breaks down why businesses are taking a fresh look at private clouds, from improved scalability and cost efficiency to enhanced security and control. With rising public cloud costs, increasing regulatory demands, and the need for AI-ready infrastructure, private clouds are proving to be a powerful option for modern enterprises.
Join us as we uncover the true value of private clouds and how they are shaping the future of IT.

Monday Feb 03, 2025
Workload Migration to VCF
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
In this episode of Virtually Speaking, Pete and John are joined by Puneet Chawla and Michael McLaughlin from the VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom to explore the various workload migration paths to VMware Cloud Foundation. They dive into powerful migration tools like HCX, VMware Live Recovery, and the VCF Import Tool, breaking down their capabilities and ideal use cases. Whether you’re looking to streamline migrations, minimize downtime, or optimize your cloud strategy, this discussion provides valuable insights to help you determine the best approach for your environment. Tune in to learn how to make your move to VCF as seamless as possible!

Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Best Practice or Bug?
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, we explore the fascinating origins of IT best practices with Cody Hosterman, Sr. Director of Product Management at Pure Storage. Cody shares insights on how many best practices were born out of real-world challenges—often solving for bugs and limitations that shaped today’s IT norms.
We’ll also highlight how VMware Cloud Foundation exemplifies the incorporation of best practices into a comprehensive, full-stack private cloud solution, offering a stable, scalable foundation for modern workloads.
Additionally, Cody discusses how Pure Storage is evolving these practices, embedding them into their fully managed service for Azure VMware Solution: Pure Storage Cloud for AVS. Learn how Pure delivers simplicity, performance, and scalability while redefining the best practices for hybrid cloud environments.
Tune in to hear the stories behind the standards and how VMware and Pure Storage are shaping the future of IT innovation!

Monday Jan 13, 2025
Preparing Your Network for VCF
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete and John sit down with Kyle Gleed and Broc Yanda from Broadcom to discuss how to prepare your network for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). From understanding the essential network prerequisites to best practices for leveraging vDS, LAG, and NSX, they dive into the key steps to ensure a smooth VCF deployment. Whether you’re planning your first VCF deployment or looking to optimize an existing setup, this episode is packed with insights to help you succeed.

Friday Dec 06, 2024
Friday Dec 06, 2024
In this episode, Alex Mathews and David Cairns from Broadcom’s Value Added OEM Sales team join us to discuss the new agreements with Dell, HPE, and Lenovo under the Broadcom Advantage Program. Learn how these co-engineered partnerships are delivering VMware Cloud Foundation as the premier subscription-based private cloud solution, combining the agility of public cloud with the security and performance of private cloud. Discover how VAO partners create differentiated, turnkey solutions that accelerate digital transformation, streamline management, and provide a seamless, resilient private cloud experience for modern enterprises.

Friday Dec 06, 2024
The Lost Art of Blogging: Why it Still matters
Friday Dec 06, 2024
Friday Dec 06, 2024
In this episode, we chat with Christian Mohn, Chief Technologist, and Stine Elise Larsen, Senior Datacenter Consultant at Proact IT Norge, about the evolving role of blogging in tech. Is blogging becoming a lost art in the age of video and social media? We explore why blogs are less common today, how new platforms have shifted content creation, and the enduring value of blogging for both readers and authors. Tune in to discover why this classic medium still holds a vital place in the tech community.