There are many
VMworld blog posts touting the top X things you need to do at VMworld. I have narrowed that list down to one: Spend time talking to vendors at Solutions
Exchange….a lot of time. Challenge
yourself to visit every vendor, not for
the swag (though it is a nice benefit),
but rather to understand their products.
What
is Solution Exchange?
The VMworld
Solutions Exchange is a traditional technology conference vendor space that
affords attendees the opportunity to meet with all vendors in that technology
space. Due to VMware's market leading
position in the virtualization space,
VMworld's Solution Exchange tends to be massive, touching many technologies.
The Solutions
Exchange opens tonight Sunday 8/30 from 4-7 with a Welcome reception and
continues throughout the conference.
How-to
One of the
difficulties when trying to figure out if a vendor or solution is right for you
is trying to navigate the local sales channels.
Not that there is anything wrong with these channels, but wouldn't it be great if you could talk to
every vendor about their products in one location? How about talking to the actual product
managers for the products?
Some example of how
you can maximize your Solutions Exchange experience:
- Talk to all vendors and learn
what their product does and how it can help you. You may want to skip vendors that you've
dealt with years ago, but I
recommend asking about their current products. You may be surprised to find that the
vendor has a new innovative approach that may fit your needs in the
future.
- Got specific questions about
VMware products? Go to the VMware
booth. There are booths for each
product. Depending upon when you
go, the person working the booth
maybe the product manager or engineer.
VMware also has booths dedicated to preview future product updates.
- Another benefit of talking to
all vendors is that you get an insight into where the industry is
going. For example, I remember when Nutanix was an unknown
at their first VMworld a few years back.
I got to talk to the product managers about this new product
category and understand it benefits.
I have been closely following hyperconverged offerings ever
since. I think Nutanix may be on to something :)
Just
go!
Solutions Exchange
is the hidden gem of VMworld. Its
benefit to you is only limited by the effort you put forward. You never know maybe you'll walk away with an
Xbox or drone as well? Good luck.
Labels: solutions exchange, vendor, Vmware, Vmworld, vmworld2015