EMC Corp. has been upfront about the need for business to embrace digitization. It will be a huge shift, said David Goulden, EMC II CEO, one that companies “need to lean into” or face the possibility of going out of business.

In fact, it’s an issue at “the C-suite in every business that we talk to,” Goulden remarked, because digitization’s “a business imperative.” EMC’s Platform 2.5 is designed to help business make this change — to reach EMC’s Platform 3 — without having to “rip and replace” their current assets.

Platform 2.5, a springboard to Platform 3

At present, Goulden observed, the enterprise is spending the most on “Platform 2 technologies” and much less on “Platform 3.” Platform 3, he said, is the future, but getting there “has to be a balance” between current and future needs. As a bridge technology, Platform 2.5 takes “a transformation approach”; it leverages key technologies that will be important on Platform 3 and uses them “to build a transformation platform from [companies’] existing apps.”

Not only is the infrastructure different, Goulden continued, “How it’s provisioned and managed is different.” Overall, the goal is for Platform 2.5 to be “less expensive, faster, more secure, more agile.” The real breakthrough, he explained, will be “getting people to understand that they have to transform Platform 2, not just cost-reduce it.”

VCE’s role between Platform 2 and 3

EMC created two R&D divisions a year ago, Goulden said: Core Technology Divisions, which includes Platforms 2 and 2.5 in addition to XtremIO, and the Emerging Technologies Division, which encompasses Platform 3. Between those two groups, Goulden said, is VCE. Its purpose in this position is to facilitate “complete converged infrastructure systems.”

EMC predicts rapid growth from emerging technologies

It’s the “emerging stories,” technologies like software-defined storage, XtremIO, that Goulden predicts will begin to drive revenue for EMC. “We can afford to go at this aggressively because … we know that the hyper growth will come from the emerging stories bucket.”

EMC’s acquisition strategy

Rooting out emerging stories out of the market has always been a talent of EMC’s. The tech giant brings companies in, integrates them into EMC and grows them quickly while maintaining their leadership. The goal behind this set of tactics, said Goulden, is to ensure these emerging technologies are “insulated” and “protected” before bringing it to product as a fully-scalable, enterprise-ready product.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of EMC World 2015.