Get ready for an insightful journey.

Join us at VMware Explore

Las Vegas, Nevada | The Venetian
August 21 – 24, 2023

Over the next five weeks, we will be featuring perspectives from five esteemed speakers of VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas. They have graciously agreed to answer the same set of five questions relating to the event, providing intriguing and informative content for our attendees. Be sure to check back each week as we unveil their responses, building up to the highly anticipated Las Vegas event.

Name: Duncan Epping
Title: Chief Technologist, VMware
Bio: Duncan Epping is VMware’s Chief Technologist for the Cloud Infrastructure Business Group with a primary focus on Cloud Storage and hyperconverged infrastructure. In his role, he serves as a trusted adviser to VMware’s customers and partners. Duncan is the owner of Yellow-Bricks.com, the host of the Unexplored Territory Podcast, and the author of the vSAN Deep Dive book series.

Connect with Duncan Epping
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5 Questions

1. Why is attending VMware Explore valuable to VMware customers?

When I was a customer what I found most valuable was attending sessions in person and having the ability to ask questions at the end of the session to better understand the use cases, the challenges, the technology, and then try to digest the knowledge and apply it to my own environment. I notice that many people attending my sessions seem to do the same, their questions are always very specific and people try to relate things back to their own environment and how they can apply and improve.

2. What innovations are you most looking forward to learning about this year?

As a VMware employee working for the Cloud Infrastructure Business Group who mainly focusses on storage and cloud data I am most excited about what is going to be announced around vSAN. I cannot provide any specifics unfortunately, but I know for sure customers will appreciate it.

3. Can you give us a brief description of what your session/sessions will cover at VMware Explore?

In our session we will discuss all the ins and outs of the new vSAN Express Storage Architecture, I am presenting together with Pete Koehler. The session will go over the various design considerations, but will also discuss the architecture in-depth to get a better understanding of the IO path for instance. I was also asked to join a panel session on career growth and personal development (VIB2845LV). I am very much looking forward to sharing my learnings of over 15 years at VMware and 25+ years in the world of IT. I was also pleasantly surprised that my vSAN Stretched Clustering (CEIB1099LV) session proposal won the People’s Choice Award! In this session, we will be providing insights into how vSAN can help increasing resiliency and availability of your applications and infrastructure.

4. What is something you think someone new to VMware Explore should know before going to the event?

If you have never been to an event like VMware Explore I feel it is important to be well prepared, but not over prepared. Make sure to sign up for sessions, but at the same time also make sure leave room to just walk around and network. Personally I am also a huge fan of the “Meet the Expert” roundtable sessions, as they provide you the ability to ask question and listen to conversations on a much smaller scale. Those sessions usually only have 15-20 people at most, and the most interesting problems, designs, and solutions are brought up.

5. What do you gain, as a speaker, from attending VMware Explore?

What I find most valuable personally is the interaction with customers and partners. Many people stop by to not only say hi, but more importantly, provide feedback on products, features, and my blogs/vidoes/podcasts. All of those are very valuable as they help VMware shape the future of our products and offerings, and help me improve and enhance the material I create.

Gain valuable insights that could impact the trajectory of your organization.

Make sure you check back each week for the upcoming interviews, and don’t wait another minute! Register now for VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas so that you can maximize value for your business and learn from industry-leading experts in one convenient location.