VMblog:  If you were giving a VMware Explore attendee a quick overview of the company, what would you say?  How would you describe the company?

Brock Mowry: Tintri is a company that specializes in data management solutions, particularly for virtualized workloads. Our core product offerings aim to simplify IT Data management operations while providing high performance and scalability.

VMblog:  What made your company sponsor VMware Explore this year?  Why is this a must sponsor event for your company?

Mowry: VMware has been an essential partner since our founding. Tintri VMstore was specifically developed to overcome the limitations of traditional storage solutions in virtualized environments. Tintri recognized early on that virtualization, particularly with VMware, required a distinct approach to storage and data management to meet user needs. While Tintri has since broadened its support to include other platforms, VMware remains a central focus of our product offerings.

VMblog: What key challenges are companies facing today? What examples can you cite? 

Mowry: Cost is always top of list, but we are also seeing customers and prospects looking at other ways to deploy applications like containerization for example.

VMblog:  Do you have any speaking sessions during the event?  If so, can you give us the details?

Mowry: Phil Trickovic, SVP of Revenue, and I will lead Breakout and Expo sessions on the following topics:

• Breakout Session: "Platform Entropy: Unlocking Autonomy's Potential in Key Business Operations" - Trickovic and I, will provide insight on how to unleash the potential of autonomy in critical business operations. They will discuss how to overcome the hurdles that come with implementing intelligent data architecture and management platforms, and practical solutions and strategies to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation. This session will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 10:30-11:15 a.m. PDT in the Marcello 4503 on level four.

• Expo Session: "Are VMs Considered Legacy Technology?" - Even with the advent of newer IT infrastructure technologies like containers, which can offer resource efficiency, rapid deployment, and scalability, VMs continue to be widely used especially in enterprise environments. I will explore the role of VMs in contemporary IT systems, including legacy systems and hybrid environments where VMs can potentially coexist with containers and other architectures. This session will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 12:30-12:50 p.m. PDT in The Expo Theater, Hall B on level two.

Tintri will also be running demos and 1:1 tech sessions in our booth (#1518) during show hours.

VMblog:  What are you personally most interested in seeing or learning at VMware Explore?

Mowry: The shifts we've witnessed not only reshape market landscapes but also present unique challenges and opportunities for businesses. We're particularly interested in understanding how companies are adapting to these changes, innovating their approaches, and leveraging new technologies to enhance their infrastructures, and ultimately, their businesses.

VMblog:  Can you give us the high-level rundown of your company's technology offerings?  What kind of message will an attendee hear from you this year?

Mowry: The Tintri VMstore Platform is purpose-built for VMs, databases and containers; and focused specifically on the problems of simply managing the storage for these objects. Tintri incorporates advances in flash technology, file system architecture, and user interface design to make storage for granular workloads uncomplicated and efficient. Tintri VMstore is designed from the ground up by experts.

VMblog:  Talking about your product solutions, can you give readers a few examples of how your offerings are unique?  What are your differentiators?  What sets you apart from the competition?

Mowry: Key advantages of Tintri's products include:

1. Autonomous operations: Tintri's solutions incorporate AI-driven analytics and real-time insights, enabling organizations to reduce storage management costs by up to 95%.
2. Workload-aware storage: Tintri has been designing storage systems specifically for virtualized infrastructures since 2011, providing machine-level visibility and analytics beyond typical solutions.
3. Simplified management: Our products aim to eliminate complex, siloed systems, offering efficient management and cost savings.
4. Performance optimization: Tintri VMstore uses AI and machine learning to self-optimize virtual workloads, aiming to achieve sub-millisecond latency without requiring manual fine-tuning.
5. Scalability: Tintri's solutions are designed to easily accommodate the dynamic data workloads of today and future needs.
6. Enhanced security: The system offers recovery snapshots with multi-level backup protection to prevent data recovery issues.
7. Deep integration: Tintri VMstore integrates closely with hypervisor managers, like vSphere, providing context and insights beyond just storage performance.
8. Predictive analytics: Tintri's Global Center runs simulations to predict potential issues over the next seven days, offering prescriptive recommendations for capacity, performance, and caching problems.

VMblog:  What specifically does your company offer a VMware shop or a VMware implementation?  What problems do you solve for them?

Mowry: We offer a high performance, smart data management platform that is focused on the Virtual Machine. Our Auto QoS, for example, immediately provides a benefit by balancing performance. The VMstore platform has repeatedly saved virtualization projects like VDI deployments that suffer from latency and contention with minimal effort.

VMblog:  How does your company work with VMware?  Where do you fit within the VMware ecosystem?

Mowry: Tintri has been a long-time partner with VMware dating back to 2012. Throughout our existence, we have always been tightly integrated with the VMware ecosystem as a data management platform focused on the Virtual Machine.

VMblog:  VMworld has typically been a launching platform for new products.  At VMware Explore, will your company be announcing anything new?  If so, can you give us a sneak peek?  Or, have you launched anything new recently that you can spotlight for us?

Mowry: Absolutely, we are very excited to share a sneak peek of our latest integration with Kubernetes platforms via a container storage interface (CSI). With this integration, container workloads can benefit from all the exciting features Tintri VMstore has to offer.

We are starting the beta program as we speak, and we are targeting a release of the feature in the November 2024 timeframe.

VMblog:  Are you giving away any prizes at your booth or participating in any prize giveaways?

Mowry: We always bring the best booth prizes to VMware Explore. Tintri will be giving out three Tintri-branded OLED Nintendo Switches!   

VMblog: As a show sponsor, do you have any tips for attendees to better prepare for the conference?

Mowry: Comfy shoes! These events entail a lot of walking, so be prepared.