VMware isn’t shy about its Kubernetes aspirations. And if any questions remained, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger made it crystal clear at yesterday’s Citi Global Technology virtual conference: “We want to pave the world with VMware Kubernetes.”

The virtualization giant has made progress toward this goal following several Kubernetes-related acquisitions beginning in 2018, and then VMware launched its Kubernetes portfolio, Tanzu, at last year’s VMworld event. In March, VMware added new products to Tanzu and embedded Kubernetes natively into vSphere 7, which provides the compute virtualization technology for VMware’s Cloud Foundation software stack. By using Kubernetes as its control plane, developers and IT teams can use a single platform to manage both legacy workloads built on virtual machines and newer, containerized apps.

While Gelsinger didn’t put a specific number on Tanzu sales during VMware’s earnings call last month, he said the company “did exceed our overall bookings for Tanzu in the quarter” and noted a few major Q2 deals that included Tanzu: Daimler, Dish Network, and the U.S. Space Force.

The Kubernetes-platform space race is still in its very early stages, and VMware faces stiff competition from vendors including IBM (from its Red Hat acquisition) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s new Ezmeral product line.

At the Citi event, Gelsinger said that VMware’s Kubernetes competitive advantage centers around the Tanzu-vSphere integration — “this direct integration into the infrastructure layer.” This makes running production-scale Kubernetes easy for the IT admin, he added, characterizing the perception around Kubernetes as “hard” and “immature.” VMware is “saying “oh, not an issue,” Gelsinger said. “If you can run VMware, you can run Kubernetes. That’s a big differentiator for us.”

However, to win the Kubernetes wars, VMware also has to appeal to the developers that are building and deploying modern applications, and historically that hasn’t been its strength. To do this it needs to boost its reputation with the open source community. And that’s another area where Gelsinger’s been laser focused over the past year.

“We’re saying to the developer themselves, we want to be one of those cool kids that are very much dedicated to open source upstream compatibility,” he said at the Citi event. “And we’re now the No. 2 contributor to the open source community around Kubernetes, and well on our way to be a leader in so many different aspects of that.”

Still, this is easier said than done.

“There’s no reason VMware can’t become one of the cool, developer first-companies, but this is a huge undertaking for VMware that requires more than just the tools and processes,” said Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research. “VMware has a history of being uncool, closed, and proprietary, and frankly is known for pushing around its customers. Simply flipping a switch and saying ‘we’re cool’ doesn’t make you cool. It requires a long history of being open and developer friendly.”

However, VMware could fast-track its coolness through an acquisition, he added. And VMware has repeatedly proven its appetite for acquisitions, which include four this year alone.

“Microsoft had a similar challenge and went out and bought GitHub,” Kerravala said. “On a smaller scale, so did F5 and they purchased Nginx. If Gelsinger wants people to think of VMware as a cool kid, he needs to put his money where his mouth is and use some of the massive VMware war chest and go buy one of the cloud native, developer focused companies. Aviatrix, Volterra, and Traceable, all come to mind.”