VMworld 2008 has come and gone and it was a great experience. The IT industry has more than a few conferences and each one has its own unique hallmarks. I wanted to share some of my observations from VMworld in Las Vegas…
1) It felt interactive. Instead of feeling like I was sitting in one dark room after another, hungover, and drowning in information, the tone was much more two-way. The attitude that was broadcast throughout the conference was one of a genuine interest in what I/we/the attendees and users thought. Instructors made a point to directly solicit feedback on new “beta” functionality for upcoming releases. Even the CEO made it a point to make himself available to field questions about his keynote announcements. As someone with a keen interest and passion for virtualization I found this to be very refreshing.
2) It was about the future. VMworld was much more about the future of virtualization than the present, which was refreshing. Most of us already know about the virtualization of today. I went with an interest in where VMware strategy for the future was, and that is exactly what I got. Many of the sessions spoke about the way it will be, and demonstrated software still in development. The future message was loud, clear, unified, and exciting.
3) Multi-platformity. I saw a lot of Macs, iPhones, Linux in people’s hand. Ok, that doesn’t sound that profound, but it definitely was a noticable change from other conferences that I had been to. I think this speaks to the difference in the virtualization audience.
4) It was big. VMware will definitely be taking on the challenger role for the biggest tech conference in the US within a year or two… not to mention VMworld Europe in the mix.
