Name: Kris Walsh
Title: Associate Systems Engineer
Years at VMware: 5 ½
Years in IT: 17
Certifications: MCSE, VCP
Aliases: Spiceworks: KrisATX

Get to know Kris: 

1) What have you done in your career at VMware and what do you do now?

• I started off in sales back in 2006, but gravitated back to my true calling as a Systems Engineer as soon as possible.

2) Why do you love working at VMware?

• It may sound corny, but I love having a positive impact in my customers' lives. 

3) What did you do before coming to VMware?

• I was an SE and Technical Trainer at Dell.

4) What is your area of technology expertise?

• Expertise is a strong word in my opinion.  I’m willing to tackle anything VMware. 

5) What is your favorite VMware product or feature and why?

• vMotion – It just keeps getting better and better!  Eight simultaneous vMotions.  Long-Distance vMotion.  It’s just cool.

6) What is the one accomplishment in your career that you are most proud of?

• Winning the first ever VMware People’s Choice Award.

7) What is your favorite/funniest/most unbelievable IT story?

• I had disaster recovery call scheduled with the IT Director of an NFL football team.  Before the call my sales reps said, “This guy really likes VMware.”  So I asked the customer, “I hear you’re a big VMware fan.  Why is that?”  He said, “VMware made my marriage better…” and just stopped.

  “You can’t stop there!” I said.

  “Well…  some coaches come in at 4am…  Some don’t leave until 2am and they’re all pretty hot headed.  So if anything goes wrong, I hear about it real quick.  I used to hear from them all the time.  I was always nervous…  Looking at my phone…  Checking my email…  My wife used to get mad at me, because even when I was with her, I wasn’t really there.  Since we implemented vSphere with HA & DRS, my problems have lessened exponentially.  I have more time & don’t have to worry like I used to.  My wife says she hasn’t seen me this happy in a long time.” 

8) What's the coolest thing that you have done (or helped a customer do) with VMware solutions?

• I’ve done it many times, but I think it’s cool helping someone start down the path of virtualization and cloud computing.  New technologies can be daunting, so I appreciate being at the first part of that journey.

9) What's one piece of advice that you would give someone starting down the virtualization road?

• Follow best practices!

10) What is your best IT Hero quote of the day?

• There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Connect with Kris through Spiceworks.