VMware Forum 2011 in Oslo: A Technical Perspective
As an existing VMware customer, I recently attended the VMware Forum 2011 in Oslo, Norway. While the event had a nice venue and good location, I was left feeling underwhelmed and unsure of the intended audience for the event. According to the invitation, the target audience was CIOs, CFOs, general managers, infrastructure and data center managers, IT managers and directors, security managers, systems administrators, desktop and SOE managers, application managers, application administrators, and application developers. However, the event seemed to be more geared towards potential new customers who haven’t yet adopted virtualization rather than existing customers looking for technical value.
The event had three “tracks” that attendees could follow, one of which was mainly led by VMware employees, while the other two were sponsor-driven and focused more on marketing rather than technical content. Even the VMware-led presentations were largely biased towards marketing, with little to no real-world scenarios or technical depth provided. This lack of substance left me feeling frustrated, as an existing vAdmin looking for practical value from the event.
The only real gem I gleaned from the event was the integration of Fusion IO and HP blades, which you can read more about on Lars Trøen’s new site, Core four. This is a promising development for VDI nirvana, even if Atea brought a paperboard donkey and horse on stage while presenting.
I understand that VMware is delivering a message and evangelizing their cloud vision, but the repetition of the same slide deck explaining their three steps to the Holy Grail of Cloudification in every session became tiresome and somewhat insulting for someone who already grasps the concept. I would suggest including a “technical” track next year that caters to existing vAdmins, providing real-world use cases and non-marketing/fluff based scenarios. Admins want the real deal, not cloudspeak.
In conclusion, VMware Forum 2011 in Oslo failed to meet my expectations as an existing VMware customer looking for technical value. The event seemed more geared towards potential new customers, with little substance provided for those already using VMware products. However, the integration of Fusion IO and HP blades offers promise for VDI nirvana, and I appreciate the opportunity to connect with other industry professionals like Lars Trøen and Vegard Sagbakken.