From vSphere to VCF 9.0: GCI’s Journey to a Modern Private Cloud

At VMware Explore 2025, host Pete Flecha sits down with Dave Linthicum, Rick Walsworth, and James Schorr, Sr. Director of Enterprise Cloud Platforms at GCI—Alaska’s largest telecom provider—to discuss GCI’s journey from vSphere to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0.

James shares how GCI moved from managing disparate vSphere clusters with complex patching requirements to a standardized and streamlined private cloud platform with VCF. The shift has delivered:

• Faster and easier cluster upgrades
• Simplified patching and lifecycle management
• More time for innovation instead of maintenance

The conversation also explores the massive infrastructure changes GCI made during the pandemic, including upgrades to firewalls, network design, compute platforms, storage, and infrastructure-as-code. James highlights the OpEx savings driven by reduced labor requirements, as well as how VCF 9 testing in their labs is shaping decisions on greenfield vs. upgrade paths.

For other organizations considering VMware Cloud Foundation, James offers practical advice: design carefully but don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis—start with the resources you have, and lean on your architects and engineers to guide the path forward.

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