VMworld… No Barcelona, No Obama Bar and No physical peer catch ups for me this year.
For 2020, VMworld is organized differently to align with the new reality and current travel constraints. Instead of multiple VMworld events, one virtual VMworld event has been scheduled. This VMworld 2020 ‘Online Around the Globe’ event is being held from September 29th to October 1st, 2020. The specific EMEA dates are 30th September and 1st October from 9am BST.
VMware are boasting over 48hours of non-stop innovation. There are going to be over 1000 sessions across live streams, on-demand streams, hands on labs and round tables for attendees to indulge. I strongly advise registering (basic pass is FREE!!) and creating your schedule to optimise your time.
People think these virtual conferences don’t offer the same insights, experiences and chance to build new relationships. Yes, this is true but with anything things must adapt and change. This is one of the conferences that runs each year that provides great updates and insights for business leaders and technical representatives. I personally am very happy that we get to at least hear from innovators, leaders and industry experts on what they are seeing.
To enable you to find the topics of interest the learning tracks this year are app modernisation, multi-cloud, intrinsic security, digital workspace, virtual cloud network, vision & innovation and Telco 5G.
I strongly advise making time for the general session hosted by Pat Gelsinger and Sanjay Poonen on 29/09/2020 at 17:00 – 17:55 BST. This is always an insightful view into what is coming, the themes and challenges they have seen and overcome as an organisation or for their customers. With these now being virtual sessions and no mad rush between sessions, you can look to attend the solutions keynotes:
- Solutions Keynote: Innovation@VMware – The CTO Perspective [OCTO2966]
- Solutions Keynote: Multi-Cloud Strategy to Deliver Modern Apps to Any Cloud [MC2797]
- Solutions Keynote: Modern Apps – Get Better Software into Production Faster [MAP2656]
- Solutions Keynote: Intrinsic Security, Intrinsic Advantage [IS2800]
- Solutions Keynote: Journey to a Future Ready Workforce [DW2716]
- Solutions Keynote: Virtual Cloud Network – The Network for Your Future Ready Business [VCN2799]
- Solutions Keynote: (Part 1) – 5G is Here – A Transformative Moment for CSPs [TLCG2967]
These keynotes are ideal this year to allow you to hear what they have to say, and then search the live and on-demand sessions for the information you found during the keynotes. When attending physically you don’t get this capability!
With so many available sessions it can be hard to find content. To help I have pulled together some sessions that I plan on attending and I believe that have value to me, the customers I engage with or conversations I have been having with customers over the last 12month.
Below are the top 5 sessions from the live catalog across the learning paths:
| App Modernisation | Multi-Cloud | Intrinsic Security | Digital Workspace | Virtual Cloud Network | Vision & Innovation | Telco 5G |
1 | RUN a Modern Apps Platform using Kubernetes Across Multiple Clouds [MAP2867] | Enabling Business Continuity with VMware Cloud on AWS [HCP3170S] | Security for Public Clouds: Visibility & Security Controls At Cloud Scale [ISWS2946] | Management Hackers: Modern Management Tips and Tricks for Windows Admins [DWMM2815] | Modern Apps and Containers: Networking and Security [VCNC2920] | Live Q&A with VMware CTO and Office of the CTO Leadership [VI3345] | Getting There From Here: Evolution to Cloud Native [TLCG3001] |
2 | Inside the Tanzu Portfolio [MAP2248] | The CTO Perspective: Multi-Cloud Management in a Volatile World [HCMB3112] | How Management & Security Must Combine to Deliver Secure Digital Workspace [ISWS2945] | The Cloud Exodus: Migrating Workloads, Apps, and Encryption to the Cloud [DWMM2816] | Prepare for the New Normal of Work from Anywhere [VCNC2919] | Cloud Observability Frameworks for Modern Application Platforms [OCTO3016] | Accelerating New Service Creation and Innovation With Private 5G [TLCG3002] |
3 | Delivering Exceptional Patient and Customer Experiences in Healthcare and Financial Services [MAP2937] | The Datacenter of the Future [HCP3004] | Security for Business Continuity and Remote Work [ISNS2893] | Tilt the Scale: Cloud-Scale Patching and Software Distribution Practices [DWMM2817] | Seeing Is Believing: AIOps, Monitoring and Intelligence for WAN and LAN [VCNE2384] | The Role of the Platform in Security Transformation [OCTO3013] | 5G Ready Assurance and Analytics Delivered [TLCG2762] |
4 | Data Management for VMware Environments: Drive New Revenue [MAP3097S] | Run VMware natively on Azure with the latest from Azure VMware Solution [HCPS2981S] | Vulnerability Management for Workloads [ISWL2755] | The Top 10 Workspace ONE Tips and Tricks [DWMM3061] | The Modern Network [VCNC2890] | Achieving Happiness: Building Your Brand and Your Career [ETPD2087] | O-RAN Explained – Increase Agility and Reduce Costs of Your RAN [TLCG2766] |
5 | Harnessing the power of VMware in your Application Modernization Journey [MAP3101S] | Best Practices for Cloud Financial Management [MCOP3015] | The “Future Ready” Security Operations Center [ISWS2943] | Enable Secure Remote Work: Windows Virtual Desktop & Horizon Cloud on Azure [DWHV2983S] | Pushing Boundaries with SD-WAN: SASE at Its Best [VCNE2349] | The CEO Book Club: Essential Reading for a Leader’s Mindset [ETPD2928S] | Extreme Automation for Modern Telco Cloud Networks [TLCG2760] |
Below are my top 3 sessions from the on-demand catalog across the learning paths:
| App Modernisation | Multi-Cloud | Intrinsic Security | Digital Workspace | Virtual Cloud Network | Vision & Innovation | Telco 5G |
1 | Application Modernization with VMware Cloud on AWS and Kubernetes [MAP1251] | 3 Key Steps in Modernizing Infrastructure for Cloud [HCP3133S] | Advancing Your Cloud Security Journey – Putting All The Pieces Together [ISCS1993] | Architecting Horizon: The Official Reference Architecture [DWHV1821] | 7 Reasons for Network Automation: With Blue Cross Blue Shield NC [VCNC1207] | Achieving Happiness: Leadership Edition [ETPD2971] | Exceeding the Speed Limit in Network Performance [TLCG2645] |
2 | Automate the Containerization and Patching of Modern Applications [DEM3287] | 5 Things You Need to Know About Hybrid Cloud Management [DEM3257] | A Practical Guide to Implementing Zero Trust [ISWS1383] | COVID-19 Exposed Your Business Continuity Plan. Workspace ONE Can Fix It. [DWMM1793] | CDW + VMware: The Power of Partnership [VCNC3146S] | Be a Brand and Not an Employee [ETPD2116] | Network Slicing Journey: Enhance SD-WAN with Intelligent Traffic Steering [TLCG2640] |
3 | Deconstructing the Monolith: Replace, Refactor, Rebuild or Replatform? [MAP2219] | Adopting DevOps for Infrastructure with vRealize Automation [HCMB2251] | Become a Threat Hunter [ISWS2604] | Simplify Management Across Multi-Cloud Desktop and App Deployments [DEM3269] | How to Get Started with VMware Container Networking with Antrea [VCNC1553] | Change Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone: My Take 3 Journey [ETPD1043] | The Evolution of Cable Networks: How Virtualization Will Transform Cable [TLCG2635] |
Why did I choose these sessions? The presenters are great, the content looks new, interesting and relatable to the audience. There is so much great content this year with ultimately two conferences merged into a single monolithic event.
WAIT… what about the infamous VMworld party?? Well this year we have John Legend performing virtually for us!!
VMworld Concert Featuring John Legend [EZ3356]
- Wednesday, Sep 308:30 AM – 9:00 AM BST
- Wednesday, Sep 303:30 PM – 4:00 PM BST
As every year, I plan on live tweeting and blogging throughout the event. This year I will be summarising sessions at www.mrtechtalk.com and uploading daily content on the https://youtube.mrtechtalk.com channel. Please like and subscribe!
Keep safe, and I look forward to being able to see all your faces again soon!