VMworld 2017 EMEA - My Schedule

VMware VMworld Barcelona NSX vRealize Automation

Published on 27 August 2017 by Christopher Lewis. Words: 1262. Reading Time: 6 mins.

As VMworld US kicks off in Las Vegas, it reminds that I didn’t make it to Las Vegas this year (which is disappointing), but it also reminds me that I need to start preparing for my trip to VMworld EMEA in Barcelona. Given the fact that the two VMworld’s are so close together this year, that means there is less than 14 days to go!

This will be my second VMworld and I am looking forward to catching up with people I haven’t seen IRL for the last year. I have already written a post about why I am excited to be going this year.

The general theme for my time in VMworld 2017 (subject to any major announcements) will be Hybrid Cloud, NSX and VMware on AWS.

What does my schedule look like?

Sunday

Arrival

I am arriving early afternoon on Sunday from the UK so I have plenty of time to get to the hotel, register and get into Barcelona for the first networking event, #vRockStar.

vRockstar 2017

Organised by Patrick Redknap, Marco Broeken and the team, **#**vRockstar is in a new venue this year, the Soho House Hotel. The limited ticket event is so popular that tickets were gone within 5 minutes of being released! If you missed out on a ticket, then turning up late maybe your only option to get in as after 10pm you just need your conference ID to get in on a 1 in 1 out basis.

Monday - Partner Exchange (PEX)

Session(s)

Monday is Partner Exchange (PEX) which is a cost option extra when registering for the event. I believe you also have to be a partner (don’t quote me on that). This day normally has some good sessions, I have booked myself onto the following:

PAR4376BE - NSX Assessment-Led Selling
PAR4383BE - Delivering Hybrid Cloud Architectures for Your Customers with VMware Cloud on AWS
PAR4379BE - Automating NSX with vRealize Automation (vRA) and vRealize Orchestrator (vRO)
PAR4367BE - What’s New in vSAN 6.6

I have booked a VCAP6-NV Exam for Monday as this tends to be the quietest time in the exam center. It’s half price, so it would be rude not to take advantage :)

VCDX Workshop

I am going to attend the VCDX workshop (although I will be a little late due to the exam clashing). This is the next logical step for me when it comes to VMware certifications as I already have multiple VCAP6s and VCIX6.

#Hackathon

This is the second year that VMware Code Team have brought #Hackathon to Barcelona. I’m expected it will be MC’d again by Alan Renouf, this event was one of the highlights for me last year, so I expect another great night of coding, learning and networking.

Quite a lot of the teams are working with PowerShell/PowerCLI this year and that is something I can already fumble around reasonably well. I also don’t see the point being on a team with people you already know, its not a quiz night down your local. The point of #Hackathon is to bring people together who have varying levels of skill and work together to learn something new and come up with something.

In that vein, it seems I’ll be taking a crash course in Ansible before the event so I can be of use to the team I have joined. I did fancy the ClarityUI team but I was to slow to join!

Tuesday - VMworld Day 1

#vBreakfast

Organised by Fred Hofer (& Andreas Lesslhumer) and sponsored by Runecast , #vBreakfast is fast becoming a good networking event.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to #vBreakfast last year because it was a little too far away from my hotel and the party the night before lasted a little longer than expected! Will definitely be there this year though!

Session(s)

So Tuesday is when the conference starts to get into full swing, the opening keynote (I assume) will be from Pat Gelsinger and will again concentrate on more cross-cloud, VMware on AWS, digital transformation and hybrid cloud strategies. It’s in the keynotes that the big announcements come, so be prepare to suddenly have to change your schedule to fit in a last minute lecture on something new. Last year it was VMware on AWS where the session had to be run 2-3 times to fit the demand.

My current schedule looks like this :

MMC1532BE - Using VMware NSX for Enhanced Networking and Security on AWS Native Workloads.
LHC3376BES - AWS Native Services Integration with VMware Cloud on AWS: Technical Deep Dive
NET1853BE - Infrastructure as a Service and Day 2 Automation of NSX for vSphere using vRealize Orchestrator and vRealize Automation
LHC3375BES - VMware Cloud on AWS Hybrid Cloud Architectural Deep Dive: Networking and Storage Best Practices
LHC3178BE - Operating a Hybrid Cloud Environment with Hybrid Linked Mode and Content Library

vExpert Party

Last year, this vExpert only event was a good evening. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to chat with Pat Gelsinger as I was running a little late (or was he early?). Hopefully will ge tthe opportunity to do that this year! If the party finishes as early as last time I may move onto another event.

The event is being held at Cafe Del Mar in Barcelona.

Wednesday - VMworld Day 2

Session(s)

Last year, Tuesday’s keynote came from Sanjay Poonen and, whilst providing the same any cloud, any app on any device message, focused more on the EUC side of VMware’s business.

I have currently booked into the following sessions for Day 2:

LHC1882BE - Service Overview for VMware Cloud on AWS
EDU4261E - Design Multi-Layered Security in the Software Defined Datacenter using VMware 6.5 and VMware NSX 6.3
STO2047BE - What’s New in vSAN 6.6: Technical Deep Dive
LHC2384BE - VMware Cloud on AWS: A Technical Deep Dive
LHC3371BES - VMware Cloud on AWS – The Painless Path to Hybrid Cloud
SER1872BE - vSphere 6.5 Host Resources Deep Dive: Part 2

VMworld PARTY!

The VMworld 2016 party was #OK. I hadn’t heard of the headlining act (Empire of the Sun) in EMEA so whilst it the music wasn’t awful if wasn’t anywhere as good as the VMworld US headliner (Fallout Boy). I think a lot of people went off to other vendor parties because of the relatively unknown act. This year with the Kaiser Chiefs headlining in EMEA, I can see this being a busy very event. Ruby - Let the PARTY begin!

Thursday - VMworld Day 3

Session(s)

By the time Thursday came around last year, I was well and truly tired. Although I had some sessions scheduled I actually decided not to attend most of them. Hence, as you will see below, I haven’t scheduled a great deal for this day!

LHC3174BE - VMware Cloud on AWS: An Architectural and Operational Deep Dive

Departure

Last year I decided to get one of the last flights out of Barcelona (around 20:30 iirc). #BigMistake. This meant I finally got home around 01:00 in the UK as I decided to take the train. This year I will be leaving mid afternoon / early evening so I should be home before midnight!

Challenge accepted…

I’m tired just looking at all of the stuff I’m going to try and pack into VMworld EMEA this year. I fully expect my scheduled sessions to change based on the announcements this week in VMworld US but hopefully that gives you an insight to what my time will look like! As always, if you see me around, please come and talk to me.

See you in Barcelona!

Published on 27 August 2017 by Christopher Lewis. Words: 1262. Reading Time: 6 mins.

Blog Categories: VMware