I posted a tweet last week regarding some work Corey Romero and I were doing to try and align some things between the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) community and the vExpert community. Another thing that has also come up in the past is that VCDX is a Certification while vExpert is in fact a community program. That does not mean though that the group of VCDX holders is not considered a community unto themselves. The thing we have found is that the two communities have shared parties, and other events, but really not been one holistic group. Also, we found that as a vEpert you get some “benefits” for being a leader in the VMware community and promoting VMware over all. This list of benefits is pretty good but what happened if you were a VCDX and not a vExpert? We’ve gotten the question the other way that VCDX holders not named as vExperts got in fact less benefits. So how do we solve the problem, or at least set the foundation for more things to come?
What Does This Mean To You?
If you are a vExpert already but not a VCDX, nothing really changes, it just means that as far as the vExpert Community goes, there are now new members. It also hopefully means that as we move forward, combining events and other things will make a lot more sense to everyone because each person will in fact be a vExpert. I will be completely honest here. In the past we have heard that some vExperts felt that combined events had too much VCDX stuff in them, and the VCDX folks felt there was too much vExpert things. Going forward, any combined event will be vExpert focused. Anything VCDX specific would always then be separate as an “added benefit” of being a VCDX as well as a vExpert.
if you are a VCDX that was already a vExpert, it’s simply business as usual for now, stay tuned for more things to hopefully come out of this. The real change is for those VCDX holders that were not vExperts. In fact, almost two-thirds were not. In speaking to Corey, we both felt that anyone that has attained VCDX does in fact represent the meaning of the vExpert Program. They are technical, they give back, and they promote VMware products. It ultimately also allowed us to roll into the fold of benefits all those VCDX holders that were not eligible. Going forward, Karl Childs and I will continuously look at the added VCDX benefits package on top of the vExpert ones.
Ultimately, before we could move forward we needed to lay the foundation, which is what this initial announcement is all about.
Is This Automatic?
For the most part yes it is automatic. If you are a VCDX and not currently a vExpert, you will get, or have already gotten a notification from Corey to provide any missing information to be rolled into the program. Each year and throughout the year as VCDX candidates pass the defense they will be added to the list of vExperts. This in no way devalues the vExpert program, in fact it strengthens it with more people, more “experts”, and more folks giving back. On a yearly basis we will ensure that current VCDX holders are still listed as vExperts.
