Networking at tech conferences like VMworld has been a huge part of my career. Talking to people who’ve faced the same challenges I’ve faced is so much more valuable than most of the sessions. On this weeks CTO Advisor Podcast, Keith and I talk vBrownBag with one of the pillars of the community of ours, Alastair Cooke. We discuss what vBrownBag does, VMunderground, and what they are doing at the conference. If you’re going to be at VMworld, I can’t recommend finding them enough!   Show Notes:  VMUnderground and Opening Acts Keith’s comedic vBrownBag vBrownBag Podcast Pure Storage Build Day Subscribe iTunesRead More →

It’s almost time for my first departure to VMworld in San Francisco. As most of you know this is my first, hopefully of many, VMworld. I’ve got a lot going on – so much that I had to map my time out in a spreadsheet. What i’m looking forward to at VMworld: Some definitive information about Marvin or Whatever. We’ve been hearing and reading about Marvin being some type of hyper-converged offering from VMware, but not much else.  VMware has always stated they are a software company,  not a hardware company.  So I’m expecting some type of partnership or certification process for hardware vendors. It’s going to be interesting for people like Nutanix as this could open up that market in a vastly different way. CloudVolumes.  Oh man,  VMware recently announced this acquisition with a lot of social media buzz.  I see this as VMware’s answer to the container craze being drive by, largely, Docker.   I’m sureRead More →

I know for many of you this will be the umpteenth time you’ve been to VMWorld,  but for me this is my first chance to go! I want to start by thanking the people who’ve helped me go, from the VMWare marketing guys giving me a blogger pass,  to a friend letting me crash at their hotel,  and everyone else – a HUGE thank you for making this possible for me.  I’ve excited tocatch up with people I’ve met on social media the last few years,  and hearing whats up and coming from VMWare and other vendors.   i wanted to share  from of the sessions i’m most looking forward to. 1)  EUC1155 – Enabling True Mobile Productivity John Marshall – SVP & GM, AirWatch Chris Hazelton – Research Director, Enterprise Mobility, 451 Research Tuesday, Aug 26, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM 2) INF1864-SPO – Software Defined Storage – What’s Next? Chad Sakac, SVP, Global Systems Engineering Tuesday, AugRead More →