Shift in focus… Go Storage & Availability OCTO!

Almost a year ago I joined the Office of CTO under Paul Strong. My main focus was SDDC, but I naturally gravitated towards the core platform (vSphere) and software defined storage and topics like availability. Not just my personal preference, but also a common requested topic for public speaking engagements. Most VMUG speaking requests I receive are around VSAN, VVols or vSphere HA. Each year I take some time to reflect on where I am, what I do, and where I want to go. This year I asked myself what really excited me in todays world of IT/infrastructure? What am I most passionate about? What do I enjoy talking and writing about the most?

Having written books on Virtual SAN and vSphere Clustering, and countless blog posts on the topic of software defined storage, BC/DR and availability it was pretty obvious what I am most passionate about. I like talking and writing about Virtual SAN, Virtual Volumes, Site Recovery Manager and it is safe to say that I am a vSphere HA fanboy. I am most passionate about Storage & Availability, that much was obvious

At an internal event I had a conversation with Charles Fan and Christos Karamanolis. The Storage & Availability BU was considering creating an Office of CTO and they asked if I would be interested in collaborating in some shape or form. For me this was a no-brainer. Knowing what is coming for Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes (and future products we are working on) I asked myself if collaborating would be the best option or if I should take that next step. The decision was easy, as of this week I have officially joined the Office of CTO of the Storage & Availability BU.

In the Office of CTO I will be responsible for connecting our R&D team with customers, partners and our field. I will be evangelizing software defined storage and availability, primarily in EMEA and APJ. I will focus on defining and communicating VMware’s vision and strategy, and be an active advisor for our product roadmap and portfolio. I can’t be more excited than this, I am super enthusiastic about all what is to come out of our business unit and it is extremely energizing to say the least to talk to our customers about what we do today and what is coming tomorrow. As a big plus I get to work with my friend Rawlinson Rivera once again, and report in to someone I greatly respect namely Christos who will be heading up the team. Make sure to read Christos’s blog post on the team that has being formed and some hints of what you can expect in the future. Lets get busy!

Thanks Charles, Christos and Paul for this great opportunity!