Get ready for a great week at VMware Partner Exchange 2011!

Quick Links

• Event FAQ 
• Content Catalog
• Schedule Builder
• Program Guide
• Agenda at a Glance
• Transportation Schedule
• Pre-Conference Boot camps
• VMware Boot Camps
• Partner Sponsor Boot Camps
• Hands-on Labs
• Certifications

Evening Events

Tuesday, February 8
Welcome Reception
VMware Experience Expo Hall, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Wednesday, February 9
Hall Crawl
VMware Experience Expo Hall, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Thursday, February 10
VMware PEX 2011 Party
Disney Coronado, 7:00pm – 10:00pm

Social Media Lounge
Be sure to stop by the social media lounge, located in the Expo Hall.   Here you will find other social media contributors, bloggers, VMware  experts and attendees who want to network or share media.  Stop by and  share knowledge, experiences, schedules or just take a break from the  show.

Alumni Lounge
Visit the Alumni Lounge if you are a VMware Partner Exchange alum attendee.

Social Media Tweetup
Join us for the official VMware Partner Exchange 2011 Tweetup at  Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida. We’ll meet at the  Social Media Lounge on the show floor at 7pm and then move to the Laguna  Bar on the hotel property. Register for the event: http://twtvite.com/opkxxt

Mobile Web App
Visit http://www.vmwarepartnerexchange.com/gomobile on your smartphone or visit the iPhone app store and download our new PEX11 app.

QR Codes

VMware Partner Exchange is using QR code technology for an interactive game at the conference. Any smartphone (such as iPhone, Blackberry or Android devices) can utilize a QR code reader, so be sure to download now from your phone, and be ready to play when you arrive in Orlando.

Social Media Optimization for Marketing
Session ID: SAL-MKT-200
Friday, 11:30 AM
Join John Troyer (@jtroyer) and Tony Dunn (@tony_dunn) for a session on  social media strategy, tools and tactics for the VMware partner  community. We will discuss using social media to create a community  around your company and conversations with your customers. Learn how to  get started or expand your business with Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, YouTube and other social media channels with a focus on how to find  influencers, add value and build brand awareness.  We have a few  examples to share but invite you to share your experiences with other  attendees.

Twitter
Follow the #pex2011 hashtag on Twitter for highlights from the event and  be sure to include this hashtag in your tweets to share with PEX  attendees and non-attendees.  Follow @vmwarepex and @vmware_partners on  Twitter for highlights from the conference team and VMware Partner  Network.  For a comprehensive following of all VMware accounts on  Twitter, please visit http://vmware.com/twitter.

And for fun, try the #pex3word Twitter game during VMware PEX 2011.  For  details on how to play and the prizes being awarded, please visit http://vmetc.com/2011/02/05/play-pex3word-win-prizes-pex2011/.

Facebook
Share your VMware PEX 2011 experience on Facebook during or after the  event.  Share your photos, videos, comments or questions at http://facebook.com/vmwarepartnernetwork.  For a listing of all VMware pages on Facebook, please visit http://vmware.com/facebook.

YouTube
Watch the collection of VMware videos on YouTube at http://vmware.com/youtube.   If you create any quality video clips during VMware PEX 2011, please  upload them to your YouTube channel, link them to our VMware Partner  Facebook page and we will consider adding them to our Partners or Events  playlists on VMware TV.

Blogs
Follow the latest VMware Blogs at http://blogs.vmware.com.  Read the VMware Partner Blog can be viewed at http://blogs.vmware.com/partner or the feed of Virtualization & Cloud Industry blogs at http://vmware.com/vmtn/planet/v12n/.

Foursquare
Check-in on Foursquare via mobile or laptop.  Search for "VMware Partner  Exchange 2011" to check-in at the main conference location (http://foursquare.com/venue/16835652) and share tips with other visitors.  You should also be able to find nearby locations such as hotels or Disney properties.

Questions on social media during the event? Tweet @vmwarepex

Doug Smith: Introducing Seven New Solution Enablement Toolkits (SETs) to Accelerate Sales & Increase Your Virtualization Expertise

In September 2010, we announced the availability of Solution Enablement Toolkits to help our solution provider partners accelerate sales and increase their virtualization experience. Today, just five months later, that content has nearly doubled in size as we continue to invest in assets that enable you to virtualize more of your customers’ tier-1 apps and guide them through their journey to cloud computing.

These new SETs reside in our Infrastructure Virtualization, Desktop and Business Continuity libraries. They have been built by key stakeholders in VMware’s professional services, sales engineers, solutions teams and product marketing groups, and I am confident they will enable you to go take your customized VMware cloud solutions to market faster.

The seven new SETs available to our partner community include:

Infrastructure Virtualization library

• Virtualization Assessment
• vSphere Plan & Design 

Desktop library

• ThinApp Plan and Design
• VMware Optimization Kit for Windows 7
• View Plan and Design

Business Continuity library

• SRM Accelerator
• SRM Plan and Design

What our partners are saying
We’ve received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from our partners who tell us that SETs have improved their selling experience, here’s what some of them have to say:

"This approach is the single best thing you could do to enable your channel. I've got 80 reps today but only a few can sell VMware effectively. This is how you get all 80 to sell."
-Mark Hilz, President, INX (NAM VMW SP of the Year

                                “This is precisely what we need to be able to sell SRM, Lab Manager and View.”
-Vic Verola, VP of Sales, Vicom

  “SET methodology has set the standard for delivering solutions at ePlus!”  
-Mark Henson, National Practice Manager, ePlus Technology Inc.

What’s changing with SETs?
Fee-based Access:  Currently, SET libraries are accessible to all partners with the appropriate Solutions Competencies.  On January 26th, several of the SETs will still be free of charge, but most of the existing and new SETs will transition to fee-based access in addition to having the Solutions Competency threshold.  As a benefit to Partners achieving their Competencies, VMware will continue to make the following SETs free of charge:  vSphere Upgrade, vSphere Jumpstart, View Pilot and SRM Jumpstart.

Where can I get more information?
Visit Partner Central today to get all the details on our SETs. We think SETs are pretty amazing, but don’t take our word for it.  Watch these partner videos to better understand the partner value proposition.

While you’re at Partner Exchange, stop by the VMware Partner Network demo pod in the Exhibit Hall and tour the SET site with one of our VMware Experts.

There will be a couple of great sessions with targeted SET content, so don’t miss these:

• Friday: SAL-SELL-101 Differentiate yourself with Productized Solutions (Coronado RST @ 10:15am-11:15am)
• Thursday: SAL-PROG-200 What Every Partner Ought to Know about the VMware Partner Program (Coronado PQ @ 12:45pm-1:45pm)

Hope to see you at Partner Exchange.

Doug Smith
VP, Global Partner Strategy and Operations

Take Advantage of Extensive Enablement, Networking and the Biggest Trend in the Market… Attend VMware Partner Exchange 2011.
Register Now and Save $200

VMware Partner Exchange kicks off in less than 2 weeks and with plans underway for the most comprehensive virtualization partner conference yet-you don’t want to miss it! We’re offering a $200 discount to partners who register today using the promotional code: FRIENDPEX. This applies to the first 100 *new* partner registrations with the code and cannot be combined with any other discounts. 

Whether you are a business owner or executive, a sales or technical professional- VMware Partner Exchange is an outstanding growth opportunity. Our partners consistently tell us that attending this conference gives them new ways to approach the market and reach their customers.

Our industry is at a very important inflection point, virtualization is a reality now and customers want to talk to subject matter experts. This year’s event is designed to prepare you for these conversations with customers.

By spending some dedicated time, away from the office, with VMware technical, marketing and sales experts you’ll walk away with plenty of new opportunities and ways to go to market.

The Top 5 Reasons to attend VMware Partner Exchange 2011 – it is the Virtualization and Cloud partner Event of the Year:

• Save Thousands on VMware Training and Certification: You can save thousands of dollars by registering now and getting certified at Partner Exchange, click here for available certification classes.
• Keynotes from VMware Thought-Leaders and Cloud Visionaries: Get access to the VMware vision and product roadmaps, delivered by the VMware leadership team. Our CEO and, CRN’s  #1 Most Influential Executive of 2010, Paul Maritz, will be speaking at this year’s event.
• Achieve your Business Goals and Differentiate yourself from the Competition: This year’s event will provide you with the tools and resources you need to expand your sales opportunities and help differentiate you from the competition.  You will have access to more than 200 breakout sessions, hands-on labs, and training and certification courses.
• Generate More Business by Exploring the Journey to IT-as-a-Service: Topics include Cloud Infrastructure and Management, Cloud Application Platform, and End-User Computing.
• It’s the Biggest Gathering of VMware Partners all Year: Meet your peers and VMware experts at our Welcome Reception, Partner Appreciation party, in the sessions and throughout the conference.

I look forward to seeing you at VMware Partner Exchange!

-Carolyn Cox,  Senior Director of Global Channel Marketing

Maureen Lonergan:

Partner Exchange 2011 Boot Camps: Back by Popular Demand!

 Ben Matheson-Congratulations to Paul Maritz and Doug Smith-Voted Top Leaders by CRN

Happy New Year! I wanted to share some exciting news with everyone. VMware was lucky enough to get a double vote of confidence for our 2010 executive/channel leadership when CRN named Paul Maritz the number one Most Influential Executive of 2010 and Doug Smith as one of the Top Channel Sales Leader Of 2010.

 

Paul Maritz topped the list of the 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2010 in CRN's annual ranking of IT's 25 most influential executives. The list includes the leaders who have had the greatest impact on the IT channel and the solution provider business in the last year. It is clear to anyone who either partners with or works for VMware that they couldn’t have picked someone of higher caliber than Paul. The past two years he has led our company with a combination of technical vision and business savvy that would be difficult to match. 

 

I think Steve Burke, editor for CRN (and fellow NE Patriots fan) says it best: 

 

 “No one -- and we do mean no one -- has powered more high-margin sales and profits for partners this year,” said Steven Burke, editor for CRN, highlighting Maritz’s leadership at VMware.

 

It is also a very special honor for me to congratulate our Global Channel Chief – Doug Smith – on being named one of CRN’s Top Channel Sales Leaders Of 2010. I have known Doug for many years and you won’t find a channel exec more focused on delivering value and benefits to the solution provider community. The thing that Doug likes the most is being on the frontline hearing directly from you – our partners – on how VMware can improve the way we engage and interact with you. As Steven Burke says: 

 

“He’s bringing virtualization into every nook and cranny of the channel. His latest win: toolkits aimed at delivering virtualization in prepackaged bundles like Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server and SAP,” said the article about Smith, who was recently promoted to Vice President,  Partner Strategy & Operations at VMware. 

 

The lists are based on nominations from solution providers and industry executives rating channel influence, effectiveness and visibility, along with business and sales impact. So it was voted on by you – our channel community. 

 

I want to congratulation Paul and Doug - it is a pleasure to work with these innovative leaders. You will hear more from both of them at our global partner event – Partner Exchange – in Feb, 2011 www.vmware.com/go/partnerexchange - so please register as soon as you can before we run out of space. 

 

Click here to read the full article.

 

Ben Matheson
Senior Director, Global Partner Marketing

 

 

Colleen Kapase: Women Add Diversity-A Recap from Everything Channel's "Women in the Channel" Event

As Raymond Gilmartin, chairman and CEO of Merck, has stated, “The Competitive advantage in a business like ours rests on innovation. To succeed, we must bring together talented and committed people with diverse perspectives.” 

 This is just one of the eye-opening quotes I heard last week at the annual Women of the Channel Winter Workshop hosted by Everything Channel, in New York City. More than 125 channel leaders from North America were chosen to participate in this leadership conference-and I was one of the lucky women who got to participate in this enlightening event.

Let me take a moment to introduce myself.  I’m Colleen Kapase (that is pronounced “cap say” in case you are wondering), Sr. Director of VMware Partner Strategy, and this is my first VMware blog.  I just came back from this inspirational workshop, and on the plane ride home, I had a chance reflect on my experience and how, as a whole, diversity in the workplace promotes innovation.   

We heard from speakers such as Patricia Hume, VP of SAP’s Global Indirect Sales and Carol Giles Neslund, VP of Avaya US Channels.  I joined them in a panel lead by columnist Katherine Boehret of The Wall Street Journal.  New York decked out for the holidays made a perfect backdrop to the event. 

As part of an ever-changing and fast-paced business environment, I talk with partners in all parts of the world who are working to differentiate their business.  One main theme I hear over and over again is that having creative people with different perspectives come together is the most productive way to foster new ideas.   This means we can no longer rely on the traditional homogeneous environment for innovation. 

I also learned that while 51% of the workforce is women, women make up less than 16% of executive staff.  Our evolving workforce demographics highlight the need for executive women to mentor and support diversity in all ranks of an organization to make sure these new voices and ideas are heard.  One of the executive women at the workshop talked about what a great accomplishment it has been to be part of the executive teams, but if there is only one woman sitting at the table, it is lonely at the top and is still not changing the conversation.   

Here are some examples of how diversification and new perspectives make a difference.

What if women had been on the development teams?:

• Women would not design a PDA specifically or primarily to fit in a man's shirt pocket.
• Women would not design car airbags that are likely to seriously injure or kill people when they deploy.

And on the flip side, 30 women were involved in the design of the Ford Windstar. As a result, the Windstar:

• Won the five-star governmental award (the highest) for frontal crash tests.
• It included such features as:
  • Reverse sensing system that beeped to warn backing-up drivers of objects in the way.
  • Sliding doors on both sides that could be opened by clicks on the key fob.

How can you foster innovation and support the women you know – those on your team, your sisters, mothers, daughters? Here are just a few ways that you can strengthen and diversify your own teams.  I highly encourage you to pass this information along to the professional women you know. 

• VMware is championing its own event “VMware Women of Purpose” at VMware Partner Exchange on February 8, 2011, build the networking of professional women and foster new relationships and promote innovation
• Encourage attendance at the annual event hosted by Everything Channel – Women in the Channel event in 2011
• Mentor, promote and encourage your women employees to take on leadership qualities and positions

Together, we can help create and support the diverse environment we need to be successful - Ultimately helping to develop the most innovative and best business ideas for 2011 and beyond.

 Good Selling and Happy Holidays,

Colleen Kapase
Sr. Director of VMware Partner Strategy

Doug Smith: VMware Partner Network Awards: Do you have what it takes?

 There are less than two weeks left to submit your application for the VMware Partner Network Awards…what are you waiting for? VMware is excited to honor our top partners that have provided the most innovative and comprehensive cloud solutions for their customers in 2010 – and this year we’ve opened up the submission process so partners are eligible to apply for awards themselves.

Partners will be evaluated by a specific set of criteria for each category. All of the categories, criteria, and benefits are posted on the Partner Network Awards page in Partner Central.  This page can be viewed in 7 different languages if you click on the flags in the banner.   Here is a list of the Awards categories:

• Academic Partner of the Year
• Application Platform Partner of the Year
• Business Continuity Competency Partner of the Year
• Desktop Competency Partner of the Year
• Distributor Partner of the Year
• Government Partner of the Year
• Infrastructure Virtualization Competency Partner of the Year
• SMB Partner of the Year
• Solution Provider Partner of the Year
• Systems Integrator Partner of the Year
• Technology Innovator Partner of the Year
• VATC Partner of the Year
• Vertical Application Partner of the Year
• VMware Service Provider Partner of the Year

Winners will be announced at  Partner Exchange 2011 in Orlando, Florida and will receive a co-branded VMware press release announcing the win, additional MDF funding, a VMware Partner Network Award logo for promotion purposes, and a free pass to VMware Partner Exchange 2012.

If you think you and your team are the best-of-the-best, then we encourage you to submit before the December 8, 2011 deadline.

For more information and for the award submission form go to: www.vmware.com/go/partnernetworkawards

-Doug Smith, VP Global Partner Sales

 Ben Matheson-VMworld 2010 in Review: VMware partners converged on San Francisco - took the virtual road to “actual” clouds

It has been a month since VMworld U.S. took place in San Francisco. Over 17,000 vendors, customers, partners and experts joined us at the Moscone Center for what some have coined the most successful and, dare I repeat, “epic” VMworld to date. To our solution provider and alliance partners that came to learn, discuss and mingle, we thank you for making it out. We realize that for an attendee, making it through the programming and other activities that come with an event like VMworld is no small feat.

Now that the dust has settled a little bit, we wanted to share with you – our partners – some details about VMworld 2010 that could not have been accomplished without your continued participation.

• The VMworld Partner Track was attended by more than 5,000 partners, accounting for close to 1/3^rd of the total VMworld attendance.
• Our Partner track Super Session drew more than 1,500 attendees.
• More than 1,000 partners received training during the 19 Partner Track sessions covering technical, sales and marketing topics.
• The most popular Partner Track session accolade goes to Colleen Kapase, for her session “Review of VMware’s Enhanced Partners Programs, Incentives, and Tools”.
• Roughly 344 tweets were sent out  during the week using the #vmpartnerup hashtag and @VMware_Partners

But the VMworld fun didn’t end at Moscone.  As we continue to arm solution provider partners with the tools you need to deliver IT as a service, VMworld Europe (which is just around the corner) is the perfect opportunity for those that missed the U.S. show to take advantage of the programming needed to accelerate sales and grow your business.

More details about VMworld Europe will be available soon. We hope to see you there!

Ben Matheson
Senior Director, Global Partner Marketing

Maureen Lonergan:

Partner University 3.0!

As part of the festivities for VMworld, we released a great new version of Partner University. Have you seen it?  If so, I hope you’re enjoying the new navigation and features that we built for you. If not, let me tell you about what you’ve been missing…

 Based on surveys and feedback from our Partners, we undertook a major overhaul and redesign effort, focusing on enhanced usability, improved organization, and a more professional look & feel. Some of the most notable new features are expanded Learning Paths for role- and competency-based training, improved visibility for our promotions and special offers, and more consistent navigation throughout the site.

 Additionally, we have organized the site into three major sections that make it easier and faster for you to find and consume what you need:

• On the Pulse: This section keeps you connected with Partner University’s offerings, minute by minute.  Here you’ll find the vmLIVE webcast series, where you can get the same up-to-date training as VMware’s own sales team. You can also get real-time updates from Partner University via social media tools like Facebook and RSS feeds here.
• · Build Your Skills: We’ll help you develop your professional skills, and we’ll share internal sales tools in this section of the site. Some of your favorite programs, like SolutionTrack, Tech Express, and Financial Fluency reside here.
• · Learning Paths: We’ve completely rethought how to collect our offerings into a series of paths that are intuitive and useful for you. For example, you can now see our offerings organized by VMware competencies, VMware products, and job roles. We’ve also made it easier for you to find the offerings that apply toward VMware certifications, and we’ll show you the newly-designed certification site, too!

In sum, you’re going to find it faster and easier to educate yourself on VMware’s offerings, and the new self-service  features will be more efficient for you. We think you’re going to love it, and we really want to hear your feedback! Please let me know what you think of the site by sending me an email at mlonergan@vmware.com; any ideas or suggestions that you may have are very valuable to us, as we continue to make this site an indispensable resource for the VMware Partner community.

Happy learning!

Maureen Lonergan

Maureen Lonergan is the Director of Global Channel Enablement. She has responsibility for building training programs to enable all Channel Partners; Solution Providers, Corporate Resellers, Technology Providers, Alliance Partners, System Integrators and System Outsourcers, and Hosting. She has been leading the Channel Enablement Team since August 2008.

Double Your Services Business with VMware Shared Services IP and Sales Tools

By Doug Smith

You may have heard some rumblings at VMworld last month, but today VMware has officially announced the availability of Solution Enablement Toolkits (SETs) to help our solution provider partners accelerate sales and increase their virtualization expertise. SETs are a group of critical tools, templates, rich services IP and assets that you can use to create your own unique productized and branded solution around VMware technologies. We’ve made a significant investment in the services IP in each toolkit, which along with the other tools and assets will enable you to virtualize more of your customers’ tier-1 apps and guide them through their journey to cloud computing.

The initial group of partners who were involved in the development and deployment of SETs experienced an average of 2X sales growth vs. similar partners who did not implement SETs. Here are some details:

• SETs are purpose-built solution kits that will enhance a solution provider’s ability to sell and deliver services for VMware products and solutions. SETs have been created for Infrastructure Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization and Business Continuity.
• SETs enable partners to create their own packaged solutions for repeatable and scalable value selling and professional services delivery.
• SETs are the result of collaboration between leading solution providers in the VMware Partner Network (who provided guidance, recommendations and insights to selling and implementing VMware solutions successfully) and VMware key stakeholders: Professional Services, Sales Engineers, Solutions teams, and Product Marketing
• SETs are available to solution providers that have completed the corresponding VMware Solution Competencies. For a limited time, SETs are at no charge to solution providers that have achieved their Solution Competencies.  

Three new desktop assessment services from the VMware Professional Services Organization are also available on the newly launched SET site.  The DIVA (Desktop Infrastructure Virtualization Assessment), DAVA (Desktop Application Virtualization Assessment) and DVSA (Desktop Virtualization Strategy Assessment) are targeted at enterprise customers who are interested in desktop and application virtualization and who plan a significant adoption of the technology across their organizations. These services will help customers prepare for the successful adoption of desktop virtualization initiatives and provide a comprehensive understanding of the scope of the changes to their organizations. For more information on the services, see: http://www.vmware.com/services/by-product/desktop.html.

As the industry continues to shift toward an IT-as-a-service model, the mutual growth of VMware and our partners is imperative to guiding our customers on their virtualization journey to the cloud. SETs were created to help our partners accelerate the ROI for their competency training, take their solutions to market faster and increase their strategic value with customers. Take advantage of them today!

SET link: www.vmware.com/go/SET

Don’t have your VMware Solution Competency and want to take advantage of SETs?  Learn more about VMware Competencies.

https://na6.salesforce.com/apex/PartnerUniversity?sfdc.tabName=01r80000000G7sO

Press Release Link: http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/channel-partner-momentum-2010.html

Doug Smith
Sr. Director Global Partner Sales
http://www.twitter.com/vmwarevpn