Why Do You Love Going to VMworld?

Coming to VMworld 2011? Let me know so we can connect!

I love going to VMworld. It may be my favorite conference of the year (after CA World, of course!).

If you love going to VMworld too, then I would really like to know why.

I’ll start …

For me, the best part of going to VMworld is the people, the technology, the announcements, the sessions, the labs, the parties, and the buzz:

• I meet great friends, colleagues, customers, analysts, tweeps, and journalists who I hardly see during the year – even though I never seem to have enough time to see everyone I want to!
• The labs are reportedly excellent, and it is hard to beat them for in-depth hands-on training. I’m hoping to finally attend these myself this year, if only I can find the time!
• There are always interesting announcements, whether from VMware or their partners (like CA) with a load of cool new tools. I can’t wait for the keynotes!
• The Solutions Exchange is always amazing. Every year it gets bigger, with even more cool new tech. As an übergeek, I totally love it, and typically spend hours just wandering the booths!
• The SWAG from VMware and the Solutions Exchange vendors is always neat. It is fun to see what are ‘the cool tchotchkes’ every year, and the fun games, contests, and things to do on the booths make it feel like a fun fair!
• The parties – oh my goodness, the parties! I never get to all of them (my competitors don’t invite me as much as when I was an analyst 😉 ), but especially this year in Vegas, the parties should be a lot of fun.
• There are always loads of great sessions, if I can get to them between meetings. I learn so much every year, and this VMworld should be no different.

Speaking of the sessions, I am really excited to be speaking again this year. In Las Vegas I am presenting  ‘Extending the value of  VMware solutions: How to design, deliver, and maintain reliable, mission-critical virtualization and cloud services‘ (session SPO3974).

I think this will be a really useful session, where I will explain how you can leverage your investment in great foundational technologies from VMware to design, deliver, and maintain mission-critical virtual and cloud services, including how to smooth your evolution and revolution to private, public, and hybrid cloud, with key excerpts from my book, ‘Visible Ops – Private Cloud: From virtualization to private cloud in 4 practical steps‘. Please book SPO3974 into your online schedule builder for Wednesday, August 31 at 10:00 a.m. PT. I would love to see you there!

Plus, please don’t miss a couple of my CA Technologies colleagues speaking too:

• The Agony and the Ecstasy: Two Days in the Life of a CIO – Karen Sage, our vice president of Alliance Solutions, will present this Super Session on Monday, August 29 at 2:00 p.m. PT. Karen has incredible experience and insight into the world of the IT executive, and will discuss how converged cloud computing infrastructure is radically reshaping how organizations will use technology to increase innovation and improve business agility.
• Avoid Virtual Stall with Linked Clones – Allan Andersen, vice president of Product Management, will present this breakout session on Thursday, September 1 at 10:30 a.m. PT. Alan is a fascinating guy and really smart, and will explain how to extend VMware View Linked Clones to reduce storage costs, simplify management, and overcome virtual desktop stall, plus how other enterprise management technologies are critical for the success of VMware View deployments.

Also, CA Technologies will be giving away a limited number of free copies of ‘Visible Ops – Private Cloud‘ at the CA Technologies booth (#439) in the Solutions Exchange. They will be there every day, so you can pick them up and have a chat with the great people on the CA booth. You might catch me there too, in between meetings. Even better, come along on Wednesday, August 31 at 11:15 a.m. PT (right after my session), when all three authors ‘of Visible Ops – Private Cloud‘ – Jeanne Morain, Kurt Milne, and myself – will be there to give away and sign copies too!

So if you are going to VMworld, let me know. I would love to connect, maybe hit a party or two together!

And let me know why you love going to VMworld too!