We spoke with Shaun Walsh, Co-founder and Director at Perform Partners, who recently attended VMware Explore 2023 to gather insights into his experience. In light of the recent Broadcom acquisition, Shaun shared his perspective on key takeaways, emerging trends, and the scale of the event.
Hosted in sunny Barcelona, the event brought together industry professionals, giving them the opportunity to have insightful discussions and networking opportunities within the tech space. With an impressive attendance of around 9,000 participants, the event boasted a diverse mix, with roughly two-thirds being technical experts, including IT engineers and architects.
Industry-leading hyperscaler partners like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon and smaller professional services partners like Perform Partners also contributed to the dynamic atmosphere.
Perform Partners was recently recognised as an Advanced Partner within the VMware Partner Connect Program, marking a significant milestone in our ongoing journey. Currently, we are actively working towards achieving Principal status, a testament to our commitment to excellence and collaboration within the VMware ecosystem.
Shaun painted a vivid picture of the event’s enormity, where daily activities included navigating between speakers, presentation stands, and partner areas, totalling an average of 20,000 steps a day.
The Power of the Cloud and AI
Building on this diverse experience, the central theme at VMware Explore this year was the power of the Cloud and the applications driving technology reinvention. Shaun highlighted the focus on new technologies, particularly within multi-cloud and AI, with new products aiming to enhance the experiences of both new and existing customers.
Expanding on the revolutionary potential of AI, the spotlight was on its potential to boost businesses while also addressing existing threats. Leveraging VMware’s suite of products, there is an emerging trend for increased investment in cybersecurity and intelligent response systems for quarantine or recovery.
VMware Tanzu, an engineering pipeline, stood out as a notable insight. The platform streamlines the development, deployment, and management of modern applications across the Cloud. Its goal is to simplify and expedite software delivery, empowering organisations to efficiently build and run applications in a cloud-native environment. A key highlight was its effective utilisation for aiding deployments and integrating multi-cloud capability.
Throughout the event, Shaun had the pleasure of attending some insightful workshops and presentations. Key themes throughout the sessions touched on data safeguarding, security, and past experiences in deploying solutions as well as potential blockers, either from a hands-on engineering perspective or from a governance model. Key topics revolved around the importance of involving the right stakeholders from the beginning and establishing a clear vision to communicate potential challenges within business cases.
Additionally, there can be substantial time savings for teams previously dedicated to maintaining outdated hardware, ensuring it remains operational and up to standard. The solution to this challenge was explored through the swift deployment of solutions like Azure VMware Solution (AVS) or Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE).
Shaun paid particular attention to workshops related to the financial services sector. Talking to institutions like Lloyds Banking Group, he was part of the discussions around navigating regulatory challenges associated with Cloud adoption.
About Perform Partners
As a professional services provider, Perform Partners have earned the reputation of being the partner of choice due to our proven ability to land successful projects and ensure their seamless execution and ongoing optimisation.
Our dedication to delivering exceptional results has been further validated through the reception of two prestigious awards for our delivery of VMware technologies, one of which is for the largest cloud transformation in Europe.
With a focus on excellence and a track record of successful collaborations, we are poised to continue making significant strides in the ever-changing world of technology. Connect with us today to unlock the full value of your people, processes and technology.
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