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WATCH: Talk of Security, Cloud And The Economy Rock Best of Breed 2018

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger made bold statements on cloud and security at the 2018 Best of Breed Conference in Philadelphia on Monday. In an interview with Channel Co. Executive Chairman Robert Faletra and CRN News Editor Steve Burke, Gelsinger said he wants to disrupt everything about the security industry. “It’s all screwed up,” he said as he discussed the chaos and confusion customers face as a result of the crowded market. Gelsinger said VMware will push to simplify security by building basic security functions directly into VMware’s NSX platform.

Gelsinger also discussed VMware’s recent acquisition of CloudHealth Technologies, which he says will act as a management control plane for a true multi-cloud environment. Most enterprise customers are using eight clouds, according to the latest research from McKinsey. Gelsinger says CloudHealth can help a customer reduce cloud spend by 30 percent.

Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics Mark Zandi says a recession could arrive by 2020. Zandi says the best leading indicator of a recession is when unemployment goes below 4.5 percent, which is believed to represent full employment. Unemployment is now at 3.7 percent and is expected to fall to 3 percent by late next year. If unemployment remains below 4.5 percent, Zandi says wages will accelerate, corporate profit margin will decline, inflation will escalate, the Federal Reserve will hike interest rate and the economy will ultimately weaken. He also discussed the negative impacts of a trade war with China.

Watch the above video for a full recap with perspectives from attendees.