VMware's go-to-market strategy for vSAN initially failed when targeting storage buyers but succeeded after pivoting to expand the responsibilities and purview of existing compute buyers.

The two major disruptive forces that VMware had to contend with were the rise of cloud computing and the emergence of containers and Kubernetes.

In its 20-year history, VMware's first decade was characterized by disrupting the market and growing, while its second decade was defined by other companies attempting to disrupt it.