VMworld 2015 Europe Experience

vmworld2015

I was lucky enough to attend the VMworld Europe in Barcelona earlier this month so I thought I would write a quick review of the experience.

My company is looking at several virtualisation projects so I thought it would be a good idea to to go along to the biggest virtualisation conference.  I got to Barcelona on Sunday evening ready to participate in the conference from Monday.

Day 1

Monday is known as partner exchange day and is more geared towards attendees that have partner status.  There aren’t that many breakout sessions for the non-partners and the solution exchange is also only open to partners.  There is still a lot of value for the non-partner. As well as getting my registration out of the way and getting my exclusive VMworld backpack I attended various demos and labs, spoke with VMware education about the new VCIX tracks and attended a couple of breakout sessions one of which was the very helpful New V Welcome Session.

Day 2

First proper day, after attending the excellent keynote session I attended 5 breakout sessions.  All breakout sessions were well presented and were thoroughly enjoyable I particularly enjoyed the sessions on vSphere 6 Web Client and vCloud Air.

Lunch is available throughout the venue between 12pm-2pm but because I wanted to fit in as much as possible I booked sessions pretty much back to back so had only 30 minutes to queue up for my lunch as well as eat it.

A very productive day, by the time I get to my hotel in the evening I am pretty exhausted.

Day 3

Another early start with the keynote session, again very well presented and very well received by everyone present.  Another 5 breakout sessions, several visits to the solution exchange between sessions and another quick lunch on the go and of course the VMworld party!

Day 4

Final day, no keynote session today but a 9:00AM start nonetheless – I could have done with a lie in to be honest but the breakout sessions are just too appealing.  4 more breakout sessions and a very good panel session on VCDX.  I don’t feel like I have picked up enough free goodies from the solution exchange so several more visits between sessions.  I had got used to not having proper lunch by now as well.

Conclusion

Overall VMworld was an excellent experience and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  It’s not cheap by any means but in my opinion the investment is well worth it and you really do get value for your money.  My aim was to gather information to aid us with the various projects on our roadmap and to this end the VMworld has been invaluable. From a personal point of view I had a great time.

 

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