Deneva Goins
PRODUCT DESIGN CONSULTANT
Designing for Zero Downtime at Scale
I led design for VMware’s lifecycle management and security initiatives driving the company’s cloud subscription strategy, enabling secure, compliant, zero-downtime data center upgrades at scale.
The Stakes
VMware’s business was shifting to a subscription model, but customers resisted moving data center upgrades to the cloud due to complexity and lack of trust. Admins struggled with manual, risky upgrade processes and inconsistent access controls across environments.
Customers preferred to keep credentials on-premises, reflecting deep concerns about trust and security in the cloud.
Security & Trust
Design Strategy
To enable subscription adoption, I designed a centralized model for managing access and roles across both on-prem and cloud data center management. This addressed the biggest blocker to trust: inconsistent role definitions and multiple admins creating conflicting privileges. By clarifying role concepts, standardizing permissions, and aligning to least-privilege principles, I helped make cloud-managed upgrades viable.
Impact
Unified on-prem and cloud experiences through security and compliant lifecycle management. Partnered with customers and engineering teams to validate the vision and establish a scalable foundation for subscription adoption.
Increased Adoption
Removed entry barriers around security and lifecycle
Seamless Upgrades
Automated eligibility checks, upgrade at scale
Trial Conversions
Self service demos, free trials, white glove enterprise trials