Meet Sergio Sanchezs, participant in VMware’s internal innovation event called RADIO, where VMware engineers pitch their ideas, learn from their peers and form new relationships with one another. Anyone within the company is invited to submit ideas in hopes of getting selected to present in front of the entire RADIO audience. The accepted ideas are then rigorously workshopped by their creators and the RADIO committee before being presented.
How many times have you attended RADIO?
I have a personal goal to attend RADIO as often as possible. I’ve been with the company for 10 years and I’ve participated in RADIO 5 times.
Tell us more about the projects you’ve submitted?
There are different ways you can participate in the event. You can showcase interesting work related or unrelated to VMware products, or you can apply with a paper or even a patent submission.
I would highlight 3 of the projects I’ve participated with. The first one was an informative session around a bunch of new features in vRA 7 for the CMBU booth during the RADIO expo.
The second one was the result of a Borathon project where we built a marketplace for collaborative consumption and sharing Docker resources among developers.
And the third one was the result of another Borathon project where we built an extension for vRA to provide an Eco-friendly mode for hybrid cloud workloads placements.
How do you find time? Do you work on it alone or with teammates?
Always with teammates, it’s more fun! I think that as an individual you can have good ideas on your own, but to do something really creative or innovative you need a team. Usually I connect with colleagues and organize a brainstorming session. If a good idea comes up we spend some time working together on it. We use the group energy to generate ideas and to motivate us to work on it. Once the team has a shared goal and vision, it’s easier to dedicate time to work on it.
Do you see initiatives such as RADIO essential to cultivating the innovation spirit in the company?
Absolutely! After attending RADIO I realized that VMware truly cares about its engineers, their ideas and innovations. We couldn’t have been here as a company without innovation. The RADIO event inspires us not only for our daily work and new quests.
What keeps you in VMware?
The culture of innovation, the great people, and the fact that our customers value highly our company, products and services. I think that our EPIC2 values are a key factor to achieve that. EPIC2 stand for Execution, Passion, Integrity, Customers, and Community and I feel that these values are authentic and we all share them and act by them.
I should also add that VMware offers amazing benefits to its employees including a great work-life balance.
