A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about my experiences in the last physical VMworld (this was in 2018 and held in Barcelona – Spain). I also talked about this year’s event and how it’s the largest online event that gathers tech enthusiasts from all over the globe.
In this post, I will take a deeper dive into the sessions on VMC on AWS that have been outlined to run during the event with a focus on ten of my favourites – you can call them my Top 10. In case you’re wondering why I’ll be focusing on VMC on AWS. Well, cos I think it’s an awesome solution that has loads of benefits and uses in these times. Check out my post here on Why VMC on AWS.
Before we begin, here’s the link to sign up for VMworld. Remember this premier multi-cloud event is happening online around the globe between October 5th – 7th 2021. Also, check out the full list of sessions for the event here
Let’s dive in!
- Best Practices for Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure with VMware Cloud on AWS [APP2838S]: As the title suggests, this session focuses on best practices for setting up a hybrid cloud infrastructure with VMC on AWS. As a solutions architect, I know how critical it is to understand design patterns and best practices. This is why this is my number one session.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 300
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: Director, Cloud Ops
This session will be handled by a fantastic speaker. She wears many hats as a Solutions Architecture Leader, Principal Architect and a Women in Technology Advocate. I’ve watched a few of her videos and she’s a seasoned solutions architect.
Aarthi Raju – Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Aarthi will be talking about how you can build a “Well-Architected cloud-based solutions for your VMware workloads. This session covers architectural best practices designed to achieve high availability, resiliency, performance, scalability and cost optimization. You will also hear the latest announcements for VMware Cloud on AWS and how you can take advantage of these innovations.“
- Accelerate Your Cloud Migration with VMware Cloud on AWS [APP2836S]: This is the number two session on my top 10 list. It focuses on the “strategies, methodologies and best practice patterns to accelerate your VMware Cloud migration journey“.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 200
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: VP, Infrastructure & Operations
This session will be handled by;
Robert Rodriguez – Sr. Consultant, VMware on AWS at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Eugene Yu – Principal Practice Manager – Security and Enterprise Solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
These two speakers will run you through the VMC on AWS solution and teach on how to plan a VMware Cloud on AWS migration, mobilize your VMware Cloud on AWS foundation, and execute cloud migrations at scale.
- Bringing VMware Cloud on AWS to Your Data Center [VI1396]: This session is a direct push for the hybrid cloud and focuses on walking the attendees through how VMware and AWS bring the software-defined data center from the cloud to their local data center. It address the struggles that companies face when migrating their workloads and data from on-premise to the cloud.
- Session Type: Tech+ Tutorial
- Level: Technical 300
- Pass Type: Tech+ Pass Only
- Primary Audience: Director, Cloud Ops
Here are the speakers;
Larry Henderson – Senior Product Manager at VMware
Schneider Larbi – Senior Partner Solutions Architect (VMC & AWS Outposts) at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Bringing VMware Cloud to the U.S. Public Sector with Hardened Security [SEC1120]: VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud (US) is a secure platform for government agencies in the US to access the benefits of public and private clouds to further increase agility and security. This session talks about how the VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud (US) “solves hybrid cloud challenges for public sector organizations and help them run highly sensitive government workloads with hardened security in the public cloud”.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 100
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: VP, Infrastructure & Operations
Here are the speakers;
Lance Bendit – Leader, Global Public Sector Strategy and Operations, VMware Cloud
Audrey (Yun) Bian – Senior Product Marketing Manager at VMware
- Automate VMware HCX Workload Migration to VMware Cloud on AWS [MCL1050]: VMware HCX is an application mobility platform designed for simplifying application migration, workload rebalancing and business continuity across datacenters and clouds. This product was formerly known as Hybrid Cloud Extension and NSX Hybrid Connect. (Source: vmware.com). Migration can be a herculian tasks and this session speaks to how this tool can be used for workload migration to VMC on AWS. Attendees can “learn how to automate VMware HCX workload migration from an on-premises environment to a VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC”.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 300
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: Cloud Architect
Here are the speakers; [Fun fact, they are both VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX)]
Phoebe Kim – Senior Cloud Solutions Architect at VMware (VCDX #288)
Asaf Blubshtein – Cloud Product Solutions Architect (VCDX #292)
- How To Upgrade Your Data Center Capacity Within Minutes with VMC on AWS [MCL3169S]: A common requirement of a valid design is its ability to factor in scalability. This is because every environment has its limitations and organisations at some point will be looking to upgrade their resources capacities and migrate to newer platforms. When this happens they need to consider various challenges including Vendor lock-in, IT skills shortages and security vulnerabilities. In this session attendees will learn more about how VMC on AWS help them set up a secure VMware environment for their workloads on the cloud.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 100
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: CIO
Here are the speakers;
Ralf Poggemann – Product Owner VMware Cloud on AWS at T-Systems International GmbH
Carsten Fraszczak – Customer Success Manager at T-Systems International GmbH
- Migrating to the Cloud with VMware Cloud on AWS: What About Load Balancing? [NET1795]: Whenever I hear the word loadbalancing, I always imagine a clown juggling balls :-). We’ve all seen this somewhere and know that the success of the clown is how well he is able to toss each ball in the air and catch another one without any of them falling to the ground. In the same way, a proper loadbalanced system espeially VMware-based application delivery systems should be able to be migrated, protected and extended to the AWS cloud.
In this session, attendees can hear about “load balancing considerations for VMware Cloud on AWS from VMware customer Oisin Murphy of IHS Markit”.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Business 200
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: Cloud Architect
Here are the speakers;
Matthew Karnowski – Solutions Architect at Avi Networks (now part of VMware)
Nicolas Bayle – Technical Evangelist and Enablement Manager at VMware
- Cloud Workload Security and Protection on VMware Cloud [SEC1296]: This is an important session because it focuses on security and securing workloads in the cloud. We all know that this has been a major issue in recent times. This session focuses on using VMware Carbon Black Workload protection and endpoint security to provide end-to end security for all the infrastructure control points in the cloud. The speakers will “discuss the design and architecture of the security solution on VMC” and showcase a “demo of the solution and key considerations for building deploying the solution on VMware Cloud”
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 200
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: Cloud Architect
Here are the speakers;
Vish Kalsi – Senior Product Line Manager – VMware Cloud at VMware
Thomas Sauerer – Senior Cloud Solution Architect – Cloud Incubation at VMware
Robert McGovern – Director of Product Management at VMware in the Carbon Black Security Business Unit
Jeff Pollard – VP & Principal Analyst at Forrester
- Expand Your Hybrid Cloud Options by Combining VMware with AWS Services [APP2842S]: This session is similar to my number 3 pick above in that it is a direct push for the hybrid cloud and focuses on walking the attendees through how VMware and AWS bring the software-defined data center from the cloud to their local data centere. The speaker here will provide some insight into commonplace use cases when they combine their VMware-based workloads with AWS and how these are made possible.
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Business 200
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: VP, Apps & Platforms
The speaker for this session is;
David Lim – Head of VMware Cloud on AWS at Amazon Web Services (AWS) World Wide Public Sector – APJ
- App Modernization Deep Dive with VMware Cloud on AWS and VMware Tanzu [MCL2290]: The last but definetly not least of my top 10 picks is by the great William Lam. This session focuses on app modernization which is a strugle for a lot of businesses and individuals (I know I struggle with this too). William has got you covered. He “will show how organizations can leverage VMware Tanzu and VMware Cloud on AWS to discover, analyze, and map dependencies, convert to containers and ultimately deploy a modernized application on an API driven infrastructure, while still realizing the TCO benefits that come with VMware Cloud on AWS.”
- Session Type: Breakout Session
- Level: Technical 200
- Pass Type: General and Tech+ Passes
- Primary Audience: Cloud Admin
Here’s William’s profile;
William Lam – Senior Staff Solution Architect, VMware Cloud at VMware
That’s it for my top 10 picks for VMworld 2021. I hope this helps aligns some of your learning plans as you attend the event. Remember even if you miss any session, there will be recordings available on demand.
See you in the next one.
Just My Musings 