Here I am flying well above the cumulonimbus clouds over Nevada on my way to VMworld, the quintessential virtual and cloud conference of the year hosted by VMware.  Yes, the adventure is beginning and I intend for this week to be just that – an adventure.  I’ve been designing, building and managing virtual environments for about 5 years now, but I’m too often blown away by how much I have yet to learn.  VMware has done wonders for infrastructure management and data center design.  They have single-handedly revolutionized the industry.  Others have come and developed virtual infrastructure and cloud-enabling technologies, but VMware is the de-facto standard in the enterprise.  It was the pioneer and data centers are where they are today because of them.  Not one to stand still, it has evolved from its virtual pioneering days to become the cloud enabling giant it is today.

And here I am staring out at those clouds thinking I have so much to learn. VMware has built a set of technologies to enable businesses of all sizes tap into the cloud and change the way they manage systems.  My organization, although highly virtualized, is only beginning to scratch the surface of cloud.  I don’t even think we quite understand it yet.  We insist the lingo is great for marketing, but I have to believe it is so much more.  And that is why this week will be an adventure.  A week of discovery and exploration.  What can I bring back to my employer from the conference this week that will help us manage our virtual environment more efficiently, leverage our existing resources and optimize our systems management?  What technologies will we be able to implement that will help us move into the next stage of IT design and management, where we take hold of automation, fast provisioning, transparent monitoring, iron-clad availability and robust remote access?  We have to start thinking “cloud” in order to make this transition and better serve our customers:  our own employees and the untold numbers of families depending on our services.

So this week will be an adventure.  I’ll be landing soon at SFO and then heading downtown to Moscone where 20,000 other crazy passionate geeks will be converging over the next 5 days.  It’ll be awesome.  I hope to meet some new folks, try out some new technologies, be awed by the big announcements and the promises on the horizon, and learn, learn, learn.  The adventure awaits.  Let’s hit the ground running.