This is my first VMware conference. I want you to know that I have no idea how the previous ones have been. It is obvious to me that we are standing at a “fork in the path”. VMware is fully embracing the Private Cloud and wants to be the primary provider of this solution. The whole conference was more or less on how to adopt the new features of VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF9), which is the platform that Broadcom delivers the Private Cloud initiative through.
I had some initial surprise, as I had expected a conference that would dive deep into the different products as standalone solutions. However, I realized that the VCF9 product is absolutely the platform to be on, so I spent most of the 3-day conference conducting a deep dive into level 200 and 300 sessions on the configuration of security tools and learning about the installation/upgrade of the platform. There are so many aspects of this platform that have me really excited, and I wanted to ensure that I will know as much as possible about the features when it comes to designing how my organization will adopt the Private Cloud.
My challenge is that although the organization I work for has really high-end hardware, it is not ready for VCF9. That will be a challenge VMware (Broadcom) will have to work with vendors to overcome.
Conference
Whenever I attend a conference, I try to take notes, but it usually doesn’t work out well. So I end up taking pictures of slides, which results in hundreds of images of slides. I am open to suggestions for better systems.
I arrived at the hotel on Sunday. I stayed at the conference hotel, and it was the largest hotel I have ever been in. I knew that Las Vegas was over the top, but having an outside shopping experience with a Canal inside (inn the second floor) was more than I expected.
The conference offered plenty of sessions, and “The Hub” where sponsors and other vendors were selling their solutions, but VMware also had a stand where you could discuss designs with Architects.
Some of the pictures from the sessions I participated in. All the lectures I went to were really well organized and presented.
All in all, it was an interesting conference, well worth attending. I am excited to see how the adoption of the new knowledge will go.
