Marriott International is aiming to have 50% of its IT in the cloud within five years. And it’s relying on VMware (VMW) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) to play critical roles in getting it get there. That’s the view of Alan Rosa, Marriott’s Senior VP of Technology Delivery and IT Security.
Rosa (above) appeared on stage at VMware’s annual VMworld conference earlier this week to support VMware’s new cloud initiatives. Afterwards, he sat down with the Daily Cloud to discuss Marriott’s cloud strategy. Marriott (MAR) is a global enterprise and member of the Fortune 500, with $14 billion in revenue, 4,000 hotels and 127,000 employees. Marriott has 600 IT professionals managing a global network that includes 10,000 servers and 40,000 network endpoints. It’s running about 2,000 applications, mostly on-premise. As Marriott moves towards a hybrid cloud model, VMware is playing an increasingly strategic role in Marriott’s IT architecture. A major challenge is that Marriott’s core reservations and booking system is mainframe-based and while that system works well for a world of booking reservations via a phone call to a customer service rep on an 800 number, that system doesn’t work so well for today’s world of online and mobile bookings. “We’re trying to deliver a great mobile experience not just in the U.S. but to customers in Europe and Asia, and doing that right means you have to move to the cloud,” Rosa explains. “With VMware, we’re developing common sets of automation and front-end user interfaces.”
Marriott has a long history of using VMware software platforms. Rosa cited three reasons why the company has chosen to make VMware its strategic partner in going to the cloud: first, Marriott’s IT staff has deep experience with VMware technology; secondly, VMware’s technology has evolved in response to Marriott’s needs. “Year over year, they’ve developed the capabilities we have been looking for,” he said. Finally, VMware’s technology and general approach to the cloud suits Marriott’s needs. “What I’m looking for is simplicity, efficiency, automation, and cost. VMware shares that mindset.” Rosa said. VMware’s approach enables Marriott to improve the customer experience without getting into overly complex technologies. Rosa is not tempted by so-called cutting edge technologies like OpenStack or other open source alternatives. “The price on the box may be cheaper, but that’s just the start of the story. There’s a lot of work to operationalize that kind of technology and I think very few companies truly understand the total cost involved in deploying and using that sort of technology.”
While he’s partnering with VMware, he’s also looking to the Palo Alto firm to simplify its licensing model as the relationship grows. “As we add new products, like VRA [vRealize Automation, for management of cloud infrastructure], NSX [VMware’s networking solution], and now Cloud Foundation, the licensing model gets confusing. It can be difficult to comprehend at times, and we need to make it simpler. VMware needs to be easier to do business with—but we are making progress. We’ll get there.” He says that overall, Marriott’s investment in VMware technology will continue to grow.
IBM is also playing a critical role in Marriott’s move to the cloud. Historically, Marriott invested heavily in IBM mainframes and related software. “IBM loves their mainframe and software revenue, but these days we are spending much more on services,” he said. “We’re consuming more SaaS [software as a service] from IBM this year than last, and that will continue to grow.” The relationship announced by IBM and VMware earlier this week will work well for Marriott: by supporting VMware technology in the IBM Cloud’s global network of 47 data centers, IBM helps Marriott deliver the global presence it needs as its hotel empire expands into more corners of the world.
Rosa also said he’s looking forward to the closing of the Dell-EMC deal, now scheduled for next week. He welcomes the stability and experienced leadership that Michael Dell should bring to the company. Marriott is a large EMC customer, with its hybrid cloud strategy, known as Cloud-Red, relying on EMC’s VxRack, a converged server and storage solution. “Our investment in VxRack, as the foundation for Cloud-Red, is huge.”
At the highest level, Marriott’s plans are aggressive and ambitious, but also cautious, as befits a $4 billion company with a sprawling and complex worldwide network. Rosa estimates that today some 15% of Marriott’s IT is in the cloud, and in five years he expects it move to be 50/50 or even 60/40 in favor of the cloud.
“Marriott’s goal is to be great at hospitality and I believe we are the best in the world at it. But we’re not trying to be Google or Facebook in technology. We want to be innovative but only in ways that make sense for our guests and our shareholders.”
