EMC is putting on some great webcasts in December all around virtualization, consider this an early Christmas present! Join some of the biggest names in the industry for two hot discussion on desktop virtualization, then join the VP of VMware Alliances, Chad Sakac, for “Chad’s Choice” – an off the cuff discussion of whats new and whats hot in virtualization technology today.

You’re not going to want to miss any of these hot topics, so be sure to register for these great events today.

How to Accelerate Desktop Virtualization in the Enterprise
Thursday, December 2, 2010 – 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 16:00 GMT
Find out how you can gain control over existing chaotic and complex client computing infrastructures, while improving desktop security.

Best Practices for Deploying Desktop Virtualization
Thursday, December 9, 2010 – 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 16:00 GMT
Learn how organizations have successfully implemented desktop virtualization to create a more efficient environment and discover the benefits they have experienced.

Chad’s Choice – Virtually Any Virtualization Topic!
Thursday, December 16, 2010 – 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 16:00 GMT
Learn about the latest virtualization topics from Chad Sakac, VP VMware Technology Alliance, EMC. Get key updates on new technologies, hear honest answers to your most demanding questions, and see intriguing technical demos.

Register for the December VMware series now

Created on November 27, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

This blog has 100 views and one response.

Tags: chad sakac, EMC, virtualization, VMware, webcast

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I’m truly honored to be part of such a great team and organization. On February 1, 2010 I joined EMC as a vSpecialist working within Chad Sakac’s organization and I couldn’t be happier. Our team is made up of some awesome rockstars, people like Scott Lowe and Nick Weaver, we battle in the trenches on a daily basis spreading our love and evangelizing to the masses about VMware+EMC as well as VMware+Cisco+EMC. We work hard and we play harder.

Our team has grown significantly over the past year andwe’re continuing with that trend and are looking for talented people that have the passion….people that love virtualization and people that love to talk about it. Here are some details taken from Chad’s blog;

vSpecialists are EMC employees who’s fundamental job is to make sure that EMC wins overwhelmingly on our own merits whenever Virtualization is the context.   We do this for both VMware/EMC (bring your own server), and also support VMware/Cisco/EMC (the VCE go-to-market).

The team is now 150+ strong already, and with a full year under our belt, there’s structure.   There’s a structured onboarding process.  There’s structure roles and coverage models.   Those craving a total lack of structure (in every sense of the expression – both good stuff and bad stuff), but a similar personality profile – check out the VCE roles below.

This team’s credo is that we say “yes” to every challenge.   It is a LOT of fun, and leading that squad is the best gig I’ve ever had in my life. (mine too Chad)

The technical vSpecialists are expected to know everything (which is impossible) and so need to be perpetually be learning.  Technical folks have their VCP4 at least, VCAP-DCD and VCAP-DCA are bonus.   VCDX is a huge upside.   EMC Proven is a huge upside.  Cisco certs are a huge upside.  (As Chad states, VMware experience/knowledge is a must – EMC+Cisco is a HUGE plus but take a 2nd/3rd ranking) The right positive can-do attitude (throw me in front of any technical challenge and I can figure it out) is mandatory.   Diversity is VERY desirable – while we have a mix of backgrounds, we share a love of tech.  I’m disappointed that more women haven’t applied.

With all of that said, there are four active positions I’m personally trying to fill. Two in the Pacific Northwest, one in Los Angeles, CA and one in Houston, TX.  There are a number of other positions open, these are the four that I’m focusing on so if you are interested and are up to the challenge, PLEASE get hold of me!

UPDATE — There are also openings in Chicago, Minneapolis, the Carolinas and Florida….in addition to my openings in the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles and Houston. Please contact me if you are interested!

Created on November 12, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

This blog has 401 views and 6 responses.

Tags: EMC, vblock, vce, vspecialist

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Created on November 11, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading, vSphere.

This blog has 880 views and 8 responses.

Tags: oracle, rac, support, VMware, vsphere

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That time of the year has come around again…. Eric Siebert over at vSphere-Land has opened voting for his Top 25 list, this is a great list of the best virtualization blogs out there and it’s powered by you! I’d strongly suggest going and checking out the questionnaire and telling Eric what your favorite blogs are.

You can even win some very cool prizes, so go check out vSphere-Land and vote today!

Created on September 13, 2010 by Rick Scherer

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With great honor and enthusiasm I proudly received notification that I was selected to be a VMware vExpert for 2010. Thank you John Troyerfor building such a great community and for creating such a program that shows how much VMware truly respects the effort we put into evangelizing virtualization to the public.

For those of you that do not know, the VMware vExpert program was created in 2009 to show appreciation for those individuals who have significantly contributed to the community of VMware users over the past year. For more information on the program visit http://www.vmware.com/communities/vexpert/.

On Twitter @maishsk has put together a list of vExpert 2010 recipients, you can find that list here.

Created on June 8, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

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Tags: vexpert

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After almost 8 long months the time is upon us! The McGraw-Hill published VMware Certified Professional vSphere 4 (VCP410) Study Guide is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com! I had the honor of working on this book as the technical editor and I could tell you that if you’re planning on taking the VCP410 exam to become a VCP that this is the book to study with! The book will start to ship on June 15th and we will probably have it at VMworld as well.

Happy Reading!

Created on May 28, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

This blog has 1,937 views and 4 responses.

Tags: exam, vcp, vcp410

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New Once in a Lifetime Windows 3.1 Training Offer
http://www.trainsignal.com/windowstraining.aspx

Created on April 1, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

This blog has 1 views and 2 responses.

Tags: training, windows

(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)

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The first decade of a new century of a new millennium has recently ended.

The past ten years have been the most challenging, painful and yet most rewarding in my entire life. I’ve lost many friends, but I’ve gained many new ones. I’ve lost love, but have found new love that is deeper than ever before. I’ve found a greater respect for family and being together. I’ve also seen the world reach an all time high, then crash lower than it ever has before.

All of the situations, feelings and things that someone would normally endure over a lifetime, I’ve experienced in 10 short years.

Recently I’ve had to make a number of life changing decisions. Decisions that not only affect me, but will also affect my family, friends and a number of other people. Decisions that people typically handle one at a time.

For me, this was all thrown in my face at once.

One of the most stressful things to do in ones life, purchase a home, almost got the best of me. But, with a big sigh of relief we have recently closed escrow on a beautiful new home (two weeks later than we should have, adding additional unwanted stress to the situation). Now we get to choose carpet, paint, appliances and all of the other great things that home-ownership brings.

So, enter the second piece of the puzzle. For the past 8 years I’ve enjoyed a great position as a Solutions Architect in local government. In these past years, I’ve grown as a person as well as a professional. The things I’ve learned and the friends I’ve made will last a lifetime, but, it is time for me to continue to grow as a professional and take the next leap in my career.

Starting on February 1st, I will become an employee of EMC Corporation. I will be joining fellow bloggers such as Scott Lowe and Ed Saipetch, working as a VCE Architect in Southern California.  As Scott mentioned in his blog, this change in employment will not affect the blog in any way. In fact, it’ll let me blog even more as I’ll be reporting on exciting things coming out of the lab and in the industry in general.

It will be extremely hard leaving all that I have with my current employer, but like I said, this will be an enormous leap for my career and family. I want to thank everyone that has coached me along the way and the friendships that were made. I hope we can continue to work together in the future and continue to keep in touch.

As you can see, quite a bit of change all happening at once. Now that it is behind me I feel that a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and I am excited to see what this new decade will bring.

Hello 2010…
Hello New Home…
Hello New Opportunity!

Created on January 15, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

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First of all, thank you very much to our sponsors for putting this together, EMC/IOMEGA and VEEAM.

Now the part you’ve all been waiting for.

Our third place winner, taking home some Veeam Backup and Recovery licenses is:

Gil Salazar from Tucson, AZ

Our second place winner, taking home a Veeam Management Suite license is:

Abe Lister from Glen Burnie, MD

(drum roll please)…and, our Grand Prize winner, taking home an IOMEGA IX4-100 is:

Herbert Tucker from Keyport, NJ

Once again, thank you to the sponsors and a very special Thank You to all the participants. Thank you for making VMwareTips.com so successful in 2009.   Happy New Year and here’s to a very prosperous 2010.

Created on January 4, 2010 by Rick Scherer

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Wow, I cannot believe it is already 2010. I believe this year is going to bring some great things. For me it will bring a new home and the beginning of a new chapter in my life, I can’t wait!

I also feel it’s going to be the year of VDI and that virtualization is really going to hit the world even harder than it has already. I’m excited to see what’s in store for I.T. this year, and I’ll be even more excited to blog about it.

With that said, Eric Siebert at vSphere-Land.comis looking to update his Top Bloggers list. I’ve held positions #11 on the list for quite some time, and I’d love to maintain (or even go up on the list).  So please, go vote for VMwareTIps.com on his website, click here to vote.

Thank you for taking the time to vote, I really appreciate all of my readers visiting the site as well as e-mailing me comments and suggestions. It is because of you that the site has grown to over 85,000 visits per month from over 20,000 unique visitors. Cheers to you!

Created on January 4, 2010 by Rick Scherer

Posted under Good Reading.

This blog has 967 views and one response.

Tags: 2010, top blogger

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