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In this episode of Identient Insights, our AI hosts dive into a recent blog article by Identient founder and CEO, Steve Tout. They explore how Steve’s experience at VMware informs his approach to balancing speed, control, innovation, and governance in Identity and Access Management (IAM). The discussion focuses on practical strategies for CIOs and CISOs looking to align governance with customer needs while ensuring stability and growth.
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In this episode of Identient Insights, our AI hosts dive into a recent blog article by Identient founder and CEO, Steve Tout. They explore how Steve’s experience at VMware informs his approach to balancing speed, control, innovation, and governance in Identity and Access Management (IAM). The discussion focuses on practical strategies for CIOs and CISOs looking to align governance with customer needs while ensuring stability and growth.
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The transcription is about the importance of identity and access management (IAM) in VMware's growth as a tech powerhouse. It emphasizes the customer-centric approach to innovation and the need to balance rapid growth with stability. The architect highlights the significance of a solid foundation, strong infrastructure, and the right teams to support growth. VMware integrates security checks into their development process and utilizes technology from partners like Oracle and Radiant Logic. The takeaway is to push boundaries, question norms, and find the right balance between agility and stability. Building a strong foundation and taking calculated risks can lead to groundbreaking results. ever feel like you're juggling chainsaws while sprinting on a tightrope? Oh, yeah. That's kind of what it's like to balance rapid growth with trying to keep your whole system from imploding. Yeah. Today, we're diving into the world of identity and access management, IAM, for those in the know, and how it played a key role in VMware's path to becoming a tech powerhouse, basically. We've got a really unique look at all this thanks to a blog post we found by a, well, they're actually a seasoned IAM architect, and they went through VMware's crazy growth firsthand. Wow. They were the ones actually building and scaling those systems that control who has access to what, which, I mean, you can imagine is a pretty tall order when you're dealing with that level of growth. Right, right. So picture this. You're at VMware, right? Big tech company, and things are about to get wild. Okay. And suddenly, bam, growth explodes, and those IAM systems are thrown right into the spotlight. They become the gatekeepers, right? Protecting all that important data, and they're really the enablers of innovation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But how do you hold onto those controls, manage all of that without getting in the way of, you know, the need to progress and move fast? Right. That's the million-dollar question, and that's what we're gonna try to unpack today. Yeah, and what I find so interesting is that this architect, they don't just focus on the, you know, the tech stuff, the nuts and bolts of IAM. Right. They really highlight this customer-centric approach to innovation. Yeah. Security isn't just a box to check. It's actually a way to make things better for the customer. It's true, yeah. Instead of building walls to keep people out, it's more like designing, like a VIP experience that just also happens to be, you know, super secure. Exactly. And they actually have a great example in this post about VMware's move to automating their environment builds using things like vSphere. Right. And with that change, they took their build times from, like, weeks down to just hours. And, you know, this wasn't just some random tech upgrade. This was about solving a real problem for customers, speed. Right. So by getting rid of these bottlenecks in their systems, VMware could respond to customer needs faster. They could launch products more quickly. Yeah. It's a perfect example of how aligning your governance with what your customers actually need leads to real, tangible results. Absolutely, yeah. Okay, but what about the whole stability thing? Right. You're moving fast, things are changing quickly. How do you make sure it doesn't all just fall apart? Well, the architect talks a lot about the importance of having a really solid foundation. Okay. They mentioned specifically VMware's use of the Oracle RAC database. Okay. But it's bigger than that. Yeah. It's about having that really strong infrastructure, the right tools, and, you know, having the right people in place to support all that growth. Yeah. It's not just about the tech itself. It's about the whole ecosystem. So you're saying it's like having a super high-performance car. Sure, the engine's important, but if you don't have a good, solid chassis, a skilled driver, and let's be real, you gotta have a good pit crew. Yeah. You're not gonna win any races without all of that. Exactly, and, you know, speaking of pit crews. Okay. The architect mentions how important it is to have good operations, good engineering, and support teams. Right. These teams were like essential for keeping things running smoothly, even when VMware was really pushing the limits with their innovations. Makes sense, so it's not just about having one amazing engineer who can build a system for a million users, right? Yeah. It's also about having a whole team who can make sure those servers are actually running and staying online. Exactly, and, you know, the architect doesn't stop there. They talk about how VMware actually made security checks part of their development process. Oh, wow, okay. They have these things called Enterprise Architecture Review Boards and Security Design Reviews. Okay. Basically, like, checkpoints to make sure they weren't just tacking security on at the very end as an afterthought. So they're not just, like, slapping on security measures after everything else is already built. Right. They're making it, like, a core part of how they develop things from the very beginning. Exactly. By putting those checks right into the development process, VMware was able to find that balance. Yeah. They could work quickly and innovate without putting their systems or their customer data at risk. So it sounds like they're managing to walk that tightrope pretty well, innovating fast, but also making sure they have a safety net. Exactly. And a really good example of this is when they decided to start using Oracle's Virtual Directory. Okay, so tell me why was that so important? Well, you have to remember that VMware was growing really fast. A lot of that growth was from mergers and acquisitions. Right. And each time they brought in a new company, they were also bringing in all these new systems. Yeah, of course. Each system had its own way of storing customer information. Oh, I see the problem. But Virtual Directory let them take all that data and put it together in one place. So it's like taking a bunch of puzzle pieces and figuring out how to make them all fit together into one picture. Exactly. And this didn't just help VMware internally, it actually made things a lot better for their customers, too. Makes sense. I mean, happy customers are more likely to stick around. Exactly. So it sounds like this wasn't just about checking boxes for the sake of security. Right. It was really about building something that would help them grow over time. Exactly. What else did VMware do to try and keep things balanced as they were growing? Well, the architect also talks about how they use technology from this company called Radiant Logic, especially during those mergers and acquisitions. So they're bringing in all these new companies, right, and all their systems, and somehow they still make it work. It's really amazing. It shows how much they focus on having good partners. Okay. The architect talks about how important it is to find the right partners, the ones who really get your vision and understand that innovation should be about the customer. So you can't just do what everyone else is doing. Right. Sometimes the safe route isn't the one that leads to the best innovation. Exactly. And the architect tells this really interesting story in the blog post about how VMware actually went ahead and virtualized Oracle products. Really? Yeah, before Oracle even officially supported it. Wow. So they took a big risk there, but hey, it sounds like it worked out for them. It did. So what's the takeaway for our listeners here? Should we all be out there breaking all the rules to try and be innovative? It's not really about breaking the rules. It's more about pushing the limits and not being afraid to question things. Okay. The architect really emphasizes that we shouldn't be limited by vendors or by the systems we're already using. Right. It's all about focusing on the customer and constantly asking, how can we make things better? So it's like the old saying, right? The one about how something is impossible until someone does it. Exactly. VMware's story shows us that sometimes you have to be willing to take a chance to get those really groundbreaking results. Right. But it can't just be about taking risks just for the sake of it. Oh, definitely not. The architect makes it very clear that you need to have a solid foundation. Okay. You need the right people, the right processes, and the right systems. Yeah, that makes sense. It's about finding that sweet spot between moving quickly and staying in control. Being agile, but also stable. Exactly. Like that whole idea of slowing down to speed up. Exactly. Sometimes taking a step back and planning carefully and putting the right safeguards in place actually helps you move faster in the long run. And that makes sense for a lot of things, not just I am. Absolutely. It's true for work life, really anything. So for everyone listening as you're going through your own journeys, remember what we talked about today. It's good advice. Don't be afraid to push those boundaries and question the way things are usually done and find those partners who really understand what you're trying to do. Those are important things. But also remember to build that strong foundation, set up good processes, and don't be scared to slow down to speed up. Great advice. You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve. Thanks for joining us on this deep dive. And until next time, keep exploring.
