Watch: VMware India head on new global CEO, digital transformation led growth

Palo Alto, California headquartered VMware, earlier this month, picked Raghu Raghuram as its new CEO, effective June 1. Over the past few months, the company has seen several top deck executives exit even as it works out its software-as-a- service (SaaS) business model.  

In India, VMware currently has 7,000 employees across Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai. In 2018, the company had earmarked a $2 billion direct investment in the country by 2023.  

Read: What incoming CEO Raghuram means for VMware in the multi-cloud computing era 

In an interview with TechCircle, Ramkumar Narayanan, vice president of technology and managing director, VMware India, explains the role of the India unit in the company’s global operations, how digital transformation has helped the company find new customers, leadership changes and more.   

In a preliminary presentation of financial results for the first quarter ended April 2021, which VMware is due to post on Thursday, the company said it expects a 9.5% year-on-year growth to $2.99 billion in revenue. It expects revenue from a combination of subscription and SaaS licensing going up 12.5% to about $1.39 billion, in the same period. 

Narayanan holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Anna University-affiliated College of Engineering, Guindy, and two postgraduate degrees from University of Michigan -- mechanical engineering, and business administration. 

Prior to joining VMware, Narayanan served in global leadership positions at eBay, Yahoo! and Microsoft, as per his LinkedIn. A NASSCOM executive committee member, Narayanan began his career in the auto industry in the United States developing software solutions for design and packaging of automotive suspension and powertrain systems.