VMblog: If you were giving a VMware Explore attendee a quick overview of your company, what would you say? How would you describe your organization's mission and core focus areas in 2025?

Gregor:  OVHcloud US is a global cloud provider delivering the flexibility, transparency, and performance modern businesses need to build and scale on their terms. Operating over 450,000 servers in 46 data centers across 4 continents and serving 1.6 million customers in more than 140 countries, OVHcloud combines high performance with predictable pricing and open architectures. From bare metal and private cloud to public and cloud-native platforms, we offer full control with no vendor lock-in or egress fees. As a pioneer of sustainable cloud and trusted infrastructure, OVHcloud helps businesses innovate freely - whether modernizing legacy apps, deploying AI, or navigating complex licensing models - with cloud strategies that adapt to them. Website: us.ovhcloud.com

VMblog: As a VMware Explore 2025 sponsor, what does your sponsorship presence look like this year? Will you have a significant team in Las Vegas? What's your booth #, your booth theme, and what interactive experiences do you have planned for attendees?

Gregor:  This year at VMware Explore, OVHcloud US is proud to provide the cloud infrastructure powering the VMware Hands-on Labs. One of our technical operations team members will be on-site, working directly from the Lab's control center to ensure a smooth and seamless experience. Visit us at booth #511, where our theme is "Accelerate Your Cloud Strategy with VMware on OVHcloud." Don't miss the VMware Hands-on Labs - an interactive experience showcasing OVHcloud in action.

VMblog: What drove your company's decision to sponsor VMware Explore 2025? Why is this event considered essential for your go-to-market strategy and customer engagement?

Gregor:  OVHcloud is proud to be a Pinnacle Partner with both Broadcom and VMware. Being on-site at VMware Explore is essential for us - it provides a valuable opportunity to connect with Broadcom leadership, gain firsthand insights into the VMware roadmap, and engage with both current and prospective customers.

OVHcloud US has been a dedicated sponsor of VMware Explore for many years, including during the virtual events in 2020 and 2021.

VMblog: What are the most pressing technology challenges that enterprises are grappling with in 2025? Can you share specific examples from your customer interactions?

Gregor:  CIOs and CTOs face a complex balancing act: enabling generative AI, optimizing spend without sacrificing performance, navigating vendor lock-in, managing hybrid and multi-cloud complexity, and making smart workload placement decisions.

VMblog: Are you presenting any speaking sessions or participating in panel discussions during VMware Explore? If so, what topics will you be covering and what key takeaways should attendees expect?

Gregor:  Yes, we have a theatre session on Wednesday, August 27th at 3-3:20pm.  Abstract is below:Breaking Free of Legacy Infrastructure: Accelerate Your Migration to the Cloud System migrations can take months and cost hundreds of thousands to recreate infrastructure, applications and data across environments. Most organizations resist this or lack the resources to switch, leaving them tethered to legacy systems.Join us to discover how OVHcloud® and FluidCloud accelerate VMware workload migration. FluidCloud is the first platform to let you clone, migrate, restore, and optimize VMware infrastructure—enabling migration to OVHcloud in minutes, not months Whether you choose a managed VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on shared infrastructure, a dedicated private cloud, or our On Prem Cloud Platform, FluidCloud’s Cloud Cloning technology gets you operational fast. OVHcloud’s onboarding delivers agility, control, security, and low overhead.Discover how to optimize costs and remain flexible as your business evolves.

VMblog: What aspects of VMware Explore 2025 are you most excited to experience? Are there particular sessions, announcements, or networking opportunities you're prioritizing?

Gregor:  This year at VMware Explore, we're proud that OVHcloud US is providing the cloud infrastructure behind the VMware Hands-on Labs. We're especially looking forward to seeing participants engage with the Labs in real time on our platform and hearing their feedback on the experience.

VMblog: Can you provide a high-level overview of your company's technology portfolio? What's the core message and value proposition that attendees will hear from your team this year?

Gregor:  OVHcloud delivers high-performance, cost-efficient, and eco-responsible cloud infrastructure by vertically integrating its own server and data center design, offering over 200 bare metal configurations with rapid provisioning, no egress fees, and global reach-all while ensuring data sovereignty and sustainability for performance-critical and regulated workloads.

OVHcloud offers a comprehensive suite of cloud solutions designed to meet diverse performance, scalability, and compliance needs. For high-demand workloads such as AI, gaming, or virtualization, OVHcloud's Bare Metal servers deliver raw, dedicated power with the flexibility to scale into GPU cloud instances.

Our Hosted Private Cloud leverages technologies from VMware, Nutanix, Zerto, and Veeam to offer secure, high-performance environments with rapid deployment and full control. OVHcloud is recognized as a Broadcom VCSP Pinnacle Partner.

The OVHcloud Public Cloud, built on OpenStack, supports Kubernetes®, Docker®, and Terraform with pay-as-you-go pricing and automatic scaling to optimize cost efficiency. The AI Ecosystem includes AI Notebooks, AI Training, and AI Deploy tools for seamless end-to-end model development and deployment. OVHcloud's Local Zones reduce latency by bringing edge compute and storage closer to end users, making them ideal for real-time applications such as streaming, gaming, and analytics.

VMblog: When discussing your solutions, what specific capabilities make your offerings stand out in the market? What are your key differentiators and competitive advantages?

Gregor:  OVHcloud designs and manufactures its own servers and data centers, maintaining end-to-end control over the hardware lifecycle and associated costs. This vertical integration delivers optimized performance and long-term cost efficiency for customers.

By owning and operating its global network infrastructure, OVHcloud eliminates traditional egress fees-significantly reducing overall customer expenses.

Committed to sustainability, OVHcloud engineers its own water-cooling systems and energy-efficient data centers. These innovations reduce energy consumption while supporting performance-intensive workloads such as AI, gaming, blockchain, big data, and ad-tech.

Operating 46+ data centers worldwide, including in the U.S., Canada, Singapore, and Australia, OVHcloud emphasizes data sovereignty as an EU-based provider-making it a compelling choice for organizations subject to strict regulatory and compliance requirements.

VMblog: How do your solutions specifically address the needs of VMware environments and implementations? What pain points do you solve for organizations running VMware infrastructure?

Gregor:  OVHcloud is uniquely positioned to help organizations navigate the evolving hybrid multi-cloud landscape. For those already using VMware and looking to transition to the cloud, OVHcloud's Hosted Private Cloud solutions provide a seamless path to migrate existing workloads into a consistent, reliable environment.

Key benefits include: No charges for ingress or egress bandwidth, a significant cost differentiator. Full access to vSphere vCenter, use the same tools in the cloud as on-premises. Flexible use of vSAN and non-vSAN hosts and the ability to attach NFS datastores to vSAN host. All OVHcloud products come with free, built-in DDoS protection. OVHcloud vRack networking connects your private cloud with other OVHcloud services on secure private networks.

VMware deployments starting with a minimum of 16 cores, reduce the complexity of over- or under-provisioning and enabling customers to run leaner, more efficient infrastructure that maximizes value.

OVHcloud offers greater infrastructure-level control compared to hyperscalers, allowing customers to fine-tune performance, storage, and networking with more granularity.

Upcoming availability (early 2026) OVHcloud plans to introduce a bring-your-own-license (BYOL) offering for VMware on OVHcloud Bare Metal, giving customers even greater flexibility and control in deploying VMware environments on dedicated infrastructure. Or available now, OVHcloud On-Prem Cloud Platform (OPCP) - VCF on dedicated hardware in your own data center, with pay-as-you-go pricing and zero hardware management.

These solutions address critical use cases such as on-demand capacity, disaster recovery, and backup, ensuring operational continuity while leveraging familiar tools and expertise.

VMblog: How does your company integrate with and complement the VMware ecosystem? Where do you see the strongest partnership opportunities and synergies?

Gregor:  With over 13 years of experience delivering services that leverage VMware's market-leading capabilities within a unified cloud architecture, OVHcloud is well-positioned to support organizations in navigating the evolving hybrid multi-cloud landscape. As a VCSP Pinnacle Partner, OVHcloud enables enterprises to use familiar tools that streamline operations and improve cost efficiency.

For organizations already using VMware and looking to transition to the cloud, OVHcloud's Hosted Private Cloud solutions offer a seamless path to migrate existing workloads into a consistent and reliable environment. These solutions support key use cases such as data center extension, on-demand capacity, and disaster recovery-ensuring operational continuity with tools and expertise already in place.

OVHcloud strongest partnership opportunities are with managed service providers. Our robust infrastructure that empowers then to deliver best-in-class cloud deployment services-while maximizing their profitability. No egress fees and unmetered bandwidth, uniquely allowing MSPs to eliminate hidden data transfer costs-resulting in improved, predictable profit margins and competitive pricing for their customers.

VMblog: VMware Explore has traditionally been a platform for major product launches. Will your company be unveiling any new solutions or significant updates at the event? Or do you have recent innovations you'd like to highlight?

Gregor:  OVHcloud US is expanding its hosted private cloud portfolio with the introduction of Public VCF as a Service (VMware Cloud Foundation), a fully managed solution powered by VMware Cloud Director (VCD). This offering delivers the complete VCF stack on shared infrastructure, combining enterprise-grade capabilities with an exceptional price-to-performance ratio. 

Looking ahead to calendar year 2026, OVHcloud plans to introduce a bring-your-own-license (BYOL) offering for VMware on OVHcloud Bare Metal, giving customers even greater flexibility and control in deploying VMware environments on dedicated infrastructure.

VMblog: If you were delivering the VMware Explore keynote, what critical industry topics would you address? What major technology shifts and trends do you see shaping enterprise IT through 2025 and beyond?

Gregor:  Today, IT leaders confront the reality that the cloud has fundamentally changed - and so must enterprise strategy. What began as a disruptive innovation is now table stakes: by 2028, cloud computing will no longer be a differentiator, but a baseline requirement for business competitiveness. Yet the next frontier is no longer just about being in the cloud; it's about how infrastructure is architected, managed, and evolved in a hybrid, AI-driven world.

With hybrid cloud spending projected to reach nearly $579 billion by 2034, organizations are demanding more than scale - they seek flexibility, sovereignty, cost predictability, and performance. CIOs face a complex balancing act: enabling generative AI, optimizing spend without sacrificing performance, navigating vendor lock-in, managing hybrid and multi-cloud complexity, and making smart workload placement decisions.

This keynote sets the tone for a new cloud conversation - one that treats cloud not as a destination, but as a dynamic, adaptive strategy. It explores how organizations can optimize hybrid or multiple infrastructures for diverse workloads, modernize applications without dependency on a single provider, and build cloud environments that align with their operational and strategic priorities. The cloud has changed. So should the strategy.

VMblog: What interactive elements, giveaways, or prize opportunities will you have at your booth? Are you participating in any show-wide contests or promotions?

Gregor:  This year at VMware Explore, OVHcloud US is proud to provide the cloud infrastructure powering the VMware Hands-on Labs.

VMblog: As an event sponsor, what advice would you give to first-time VMware Explore attendees to help them maximize their conference experience?

Gregor:  Engage with VMware experts and partners. For first-time attendees, connecting with partners is an invaluable way to discover new services tailored to specific business challenges. Schedule meetings with partners whose solutions align with your priorities. Personalized discussions are more productive than casual booth visits and help you dive deeper into technical fit and ROI.

Party like a pro: have fun, stay sharp, get up in time for sessions the next day!

VMblog: How has the adoption of AI and machine learning technologies impacted your product roadmap and the solutions you're bringing to VMware Explore 2025?

Gregor:  OVHcloud introduced AI Solutions this year. AI Solutions empowers small and medium-sized businesses to take full advantage of AI without the typical complexity. Our end-to-end AI suite simplifies the machine learning journey - from prototyping and training to deployment - on scalable, cost-predictable infrastructure. Three integrated tools make up the AI ecosystem:

• AI Notebooks - A collaborative, cloud-based development environment built on Jupyter for exploring data, writing code, and prototyping models - no local hardware needed.
• AI Training - High-performance, cost-efficient compute for training even the most demanding models, with support for custom environments and automatic shutdown to optimize spend.
• AI Deploy - Easily deploy models into production for real-time inference via secure APIs, with autoscaling and integrated access controls.

Together, these tools streamline the AI lifecycle - so teams can move from idea to production with confidence, speed, and control.

VMblog: With the growing emphasis on multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies, how are you positioning your company to help organizations navigate this complex landscape?

Gregor:  OVHcloud is hybrid and multi-cloud by design, enabling businesses to seamlessly integrate public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises infrastructure within a single architecture. It supports interoperability with other major cloud providers through open standards like OpenStack and tools such as Terraform and Kubernetes. This design allows organizations to build flexible, scalable, and resilient cloud environments while avoiding vendor lock-in-making OVHcloud well-suited for modern multi-cloud and hybrid IT strategies.

vRack by OVHcloud enables hybrid and multi-cloud architectures by securely interconnecting various OVHcloud services-such as public cloud, private cloud, and bare-metal servers-across different data centers and regions. It provides a private, isolated network that bypasses the public internet, allowing for scalable, secure, and high-performance infrastructure integration within the OVHcloud ecosystem.

VMblog: Security and compliance remain top concerns for IT leaders. How do your solutions address these challenges within VMware environments, and what new security capabilities are you showcasing?

Gregor:  OVHcloud places strong emphasis on security and compliance, especially for organizations that need robust data protection and strict adherence to privacy regulations. It operates its own data centers, giving it full control over infrastructure security, including physical access, power redundancy, and environmental safeguards.

From a cybersecurity standpoint, OVHcloud provides built-in DDoS protection, encrypted data transmission and storage, network monitoring, and 24/7 threat detection through its Security Operations Center (SOC). Customers have access to advanced tools like multi-factor authentication (MFA), identity and access management, and audit logging to manage their own security posture within the cloud.

OVHcloud is particularly focused on data sovereignty, offering customers the ability to store and process data entirely within the European Union, aligning with GDPR and avoiding extraterritorial data laws like the U.S. CLOUD Act. This makes it an attractive choice for organizations with strict regulatory and data residency needs.

VMblog: Looking beyond VMware Explore 2025, what are your company's key strategic priorities for the remainder of the year? What should customers and partners expect from you in the coming months?

Gregor:  September 1 marks the start of fiscal year 2026 for OVHcloud. As we look ahead, our focus remains on expanding our presence in the U.S. and internationally. Since launching our first servers in the U.S. just seven years ago, OVHcloud US has grown to become the company's second-largest revenue-generating region. Looking forward, we aim to further strengthen our brand visibility and broaden our reach in the U.S. market across hosted private cloud, public cloud, and bare metal offerings.