A Follow Up to The Virtual Storage Guy’s Post

September 28, 2011, by No comments yet

As a follow on to my good friend Vaughn’s post NetApp Expands our Virtualization & Cloud Computing Expertise I’d offer a hearty thank you for your kind words and absolutely couldn’t agree more with your comments.  We have been making strong hiring decisions and aligning our virtualization expertise to match more closely with market trends and the skills of the team’s skills.  This purposeful alignment is already starting to shape the virtualization strategy at NetApp and the collaboration between the team members is something I have not personally witnessed in a very long time.

I respect and admire what Harry S. Truman did as a leader and believe that sole of his impact can be attributed to this quote: “It is amazing what we can accomplish when we are not concerned with who gets the credit.” This what I am experiencing now within our team, a combined effort to broaden the adoption of virtualization and a focus on doing what is right for the virtualization community.

It’s not all serious though, we do find time to laugh and let off steam.  To that end, I would offer the Virtual Storage Guy a new logo for his blog site and I would add that we are already doing great things and are poised to do even more based on teamwork and a single laser focus on making the world better through virtualization.

 

Storageguy

Dear MacGyver…

September 23, 2011, by 1 comment

Included is some paper, sticky notes, and some pens.  Please help my customer understand virtualization.

Read that as tongue-in-cheek, but a position I found myself in last week at an executive briefing.  The only difference, MacGyver wasn’t available.

I am sure that all of you can relate to a situation where you were asked to present an abstract concept to an audience. You’ve been prepped, you’ve worked on your material, you’re delivery is solid, you are, for all intents and purposes, ready to knock it out of the park.  You show up early to check the equipment, you actively engage the audience members as the come in in an effort to create a personal connection.  All eyes on you, and after your introduction, the decision maker simply says: “Well, I don’t really know what virtualization is, who VMware is, and frankly, why I should care.”

Okay, pop quiz – what do you do?

 

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Cloupia — First Partner to Receive FlexPod Validation!

September 20, 2011, by No comments yet

I’d like to extend a heart-felt congratulations to the Cloupia Team here were notified this afternoon that they have completed the FlexPod validation program.  Cloupia, a cloud automation and management software provider, offering a suite of cloud computing products and solutions to power the next generation dynamic data centers (http://www.cloupia.com) is based in Santa Clara, CA.  They were on the floor with us at VMworld 2011 and we used their management suite to drive the FlexPod where our live demos were hosted.

I’ll update the post within the next 2 days to discuss what the program is an what this means for both Cloupia and the FlexPod program team.

 

NetApp: Leading Vendor Lab at VMworld (mid-way through)

August 30, 2011, by No comments yet

VMworld is in full swing on Day 2, and the Hands on Lab program is well underway with people looking to walk home with knowledge and skills that have been earned through fingers on the keyboard.  This year, VMware was kind enough to offer Netapp, Cisco and EMC and opportunity to participate in the program.  As you might imagine we were all excited about the opportunity and dedicated some of our best resources at it.

 

That said, I’d like to share with you some of the current stats mid-way through the event.  Of course, there are 2 and half days or so, so these numbers are likely to change.  If you click on the image below, you’ll see that we are doing well as the top partner lab and rank #12 based on all of the labs deployed as of 3:13pm on 8/30.

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Get Your Authentic NetApp v0dgeball Ware Here

August 29, 2011, by No comments yet

Well, v0dgeball 2011 has come and gone, and I must say that all teams present put up an incredible show of skill and sportsmanship.  As you’ll recall, I posted earlier that this event was a fundraiser with money going to the Wounded Warrior Project.  I can say that as a former member of the US Armed Forces, I do very much appreciate the generosity that was at the heart of this competition.  That said, I’d like to extend the spirit of giving by offering an opportunity for you to be part of our team.  If you would be interested in purchasing one of our team shirts, I’ll charge you cost + $5.00.  The $5.00 will be donated to the same program as v0dgeball.  If you’re interested, please complete the following form:

 

If you’re interested, here is what I need from you. Please complete and send me an email by clicking here before Sept 27th, 2011 : Email Scott

 

I’ll confirm the final price and we can make payment arrangements via paypal.  I’ll drop a follow up post on the blog once the money has been collected for a final contribution count.

 

Thanks for the continued support – Go NetApp v0dgeballers!

The NetApp Honey Badgers: A Cinderella Story

August 28, 2011, by No comments yet

It is win or go home. No questions. You have to bring your best or you will have to wait for next year.  And of course the winner will remind you until then.

My love for this game was cemented last year when I watched the friendly competition between NetApp and EMC as the favored underdog storage vendor was down by one.There was very little time left.

Inbound play. Last second throw by the NetApp right wing. The release… A red blur over mid-court… direct hit as the stomach of the EMC player reverberates in a slow ripple effect from the shock… WIN!

If you read that sentence slowly you will get the feeling I felt as the ball bounced around on the floor. After finally knocking out the last EMC player, the audience and the NetApp team jumped up off the bench and with a vicious fist pump screamed,“V0dgeball Baby!” The commentators even shared in the jubilation:

Cotton McKnight :D o you believe in unlikelihoods? Netapp’s shocking the v0dgeball world and upsetting EMC in the championship match!

Pepper Brooks:Unbelievable!

Cotton McKnight:Ladies and gentlemen, I have been to the Great Wall of China, I have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, I’ve even witnessed a grown man [redacted] a camel. But never in all my years as a sports caster have I witness something as improbable,as impossible, as what I’ve witnessed here today!

This is oneof my favorite moments in v0dgeball, and I expect nothing less from the 2011v0dgeball tournament in Las Vegas, NV

. . .

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CliffNotes — Everything NetApp at VMworld 2011 in Las Vegas, NV

August 24, 2011, by No comments yet

VMworld 2011 is upon us and the excitement around the event continues to build.  Like many vendors, NetApp has quite a lot going on and I thought it would very beneficial to offer you a set of CliffNotes to make sure you don’t miss anything.  With that, here’s your TOC:

 


TOC: Everything NetApp

 

It’s Not All Work

Put Your Hands On It Without Violating HR Policies

What If I Wanna Hear Your Take

What Can I See At The Booth

Thanks For All Of This, But I’m In It For The Prizes

 

It’s Not All Work

 

NetApp, in conjunction with EMC, Cisco, VMware, VCE, and others are participating in the 2nd annual vOdgeball event.  This year, the teams have chosen the Wounded Warrior Project as the recipient of the money we raise for the event.  The details about the event are here and if you don’t have anything to do on Sunday between 7pm and 10pm, please come out and support some friendly competition and an amazing charity.  For NetApp, we will be sponsoring 2 team — The NetApp HoneyBadgers and The NetApp vBallers:

 

Honey badger Blue Transparent small

Team2 small

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Finding Waldo…

August 24, 2011, by No comments yet

Let me apologize for my long social media silence (twitter and blog).  Since my last post, there have been changes internally in both organizational structure and business focus that have consumed my time.  However, these shifts have bloggable-value and I thought I would share with you where our team is headed.


Shift in Organizational Structure

At the beginning of August, I was given the opportunity to take a new role in the NetApp Virtualization BU.  Since the beginning of August, I have taken the role of Sr. Manager for the Virtualization Technical Marketing Engineers.  I am very fortunate to work with a collection of intelligent and capable professionals who are all as committed to Virtualization as I am and we are very excited about our efforts align our efforts under the following core tenants:

  • 1.Be the Technical Team of Choice
  • 2.“Piss-Off” our Competition (in the spirit of good healthy competition)
  • 3.Innovate, Innovate, Innovate
  • 4.Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

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The Care and Feeding of Clouds

July 6, 2011, by No comments yet

I’ve had the opportunity to spend most of June engaging with customers on topics related to VMware, NetApp, and Cloud Computing.  While the experience was enlightening, it did consume much of the time I would normally take to blog.  As it is, there always seemed to be a common set of discussion points that I thought would be great to share with a larger audience, so prepare the blog cannon and fire on my mark…

Taming the Cloud Monster

VT1

I’ll spare you the traditional opening around defining clouds. Suffice it to say, every customer that I engaged with maintained a different definition of cloud with respect to server virtualization.  I did not expect any different, on that this continues to prove to me that one definition of cloud will not exist, ever.  I think instead, a common understanding or reference will surface that we can point back to.

Those that I spoke to could, in the very least, agree that they were on journey as it pertains to their server virtualization projects. Many went so far as to say the cloud monster was just another unbounded manifestation from the offices that begin with “C”.  And that with products like vCloud Director from VMware, clouds are stood up simply by installing the vCD software, making some vDCs and simply connect it to the finance department and you have an “as-a-service” IT shop.

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Considerations for your VMworld 2011 Schedule

June 9, 2011, by No comments yet

vt4.jpg

In a previous post, I listed out the session that NetApp submitted as part of the abstract call for breakout sessions at VMWorld 2011. In that post, I shared with you what we submitted and asked you to consider going to the public voting page and help support our presence and give us the opportunity to present some ground-breaking content that would no doubt set your hair on fire.

To those of you who did just that, you have my thanks. To those of you who did not, well… Regardless, I’d appreciate the chance to talk to you at our booth or at the Hands On Labs.  If you haven’t heard though, please let me congratulate Vaughn Stewart and Jack McLeod whose sessions were accepted and will be hosted at both VMWorld 2011 US and EMEA. As you start planning your learning map for VMWorld 2011, please consider attending both sessions. Here’s the quick synopsis of what you’ll learn:

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