We’re off to an incredible start in Barcelona! It’s been a busy few days as more than 13,000 attendees arrived and registered. Day one reinforced VMware’s vision of a software architecture that enables any app, on any cloud, to any device with the introduction of new technology offerings and strategic partnerships.
VMworld 2019 Europe officially kicked off today with an inspiring opening keynote and general session by VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger, where he reflected on the natural tension between choice and complexity. While this is a challenge the IT industry must continually adapt to, from this comes the innovations and breakthroughs that make the impossible seem possible. It’s fast becoming a reality that practitioners who master multi-cloud will own the next decade.
To that end, Pat introduced several new projects VMware is launching to help IT practitioners adapt.
- VMware Announces New Security Solutions to Bring Intrinsic Security to the Modern Distributed Enterprise
- VMware Advances VMware Tanzu Portfolio to Accelerate Adoption of Kubernetes in the Enterprise
- VMware Cloud on AWS Helps Customers Across the Region Migrate and Modernize Applications
- Project Maestro to Help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) Accelerate Operational Agility with Unified Orchestration and Automation Across Networks and Multi-Cloud
- VMware Workspace ONE Delivers Day Zero Employee Experiences, Enabling IT and HR to Accelerate New Hire Time to Productivity
Catch all the details of what Pat announced and how they’re relevant to you and your business by watching the full session replay here.
Joe Beda, Kubernetes and Heptio co-founder VMware Principal Engineer, and author of Kubernetes: Up and Running, joined Pat on stage for the VMware Tanzu Portfolio announcement, and was spotted later in the day doing an exclusive book-signing.
VMware COO Sanjay Poonen also took to the stage during this year’s General Session. Sanjay reiterated the importance of, and the results that are possible, when you invest in the digital employee experience. He was joined on stage by VMware customers, IHS Markit, SAP and Michelin. Sanjay brought the session home discussing the recent acquisition with Carbon Black, and what becomes possible when you build together. Want to see Sanjay’s remarks in full? Watch the replay here.
In the afternoon, Diversity & Inclusion Reception took place in the Connect Café. It was a great chance to meet and discuss how partners, customers and VMware itself promotes diversity and inclusion over food and drinks and is open to all attendees for the remainder of the event. You can join us on Thursday for a panel discussion on why Diversity and Inclusion matters in Tech, followed by a session on how to “DARE to be Your Disruptive Self”.
Besides the informative general session, attendees had a blast exploring the rest of the venue. Between the free cannolis, pinball machines, pool tables and giant chess games, it was hard for attendees to pick a favourite activity!
There was also plenty of merchandise for attendees to get their hands on – including the famous VMworld backpacks. If you’re in Barcelona and on the lookout for some exclusive swag here’s a tip for you…anyone who attends a Showcase Keynote and completes a brief survey receives an official VMworld hat. Check the schedule to find a Showcase Keynote that interests you!
And, of course, there was the buzz on social. Today, attendees posted on social media using #VMworld over 23,500 times. This brings our total social media reach for VMworld 2019 Europe this week to 142.6 million!
The fun is only just beginning- A few handy tips as we head into the rest of the week:
- Download the VMworld app to see your map, agenda, sessions, and networking contacts all in one place.
- Watch the livestream or the replay to catch up on what you missed, or if you can’t attend a session in person.
- Follow @VMware_UK on social and use the hashtag #VMworld to participate in the conversation.
Check back in tomorrow, when we’ll share some updates from this year’s Hands-On Labs, notes from the General Session, and other surprise and delight activities throughout the event. Until then! See you tomorrow.
