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Articles by Paul McSharry
A Multi-Cloud Strategy, Design Frameworks, and Day 2 Operational Thoughts
Recently, I transitioned to a new role. I am now very happy to be working as a Principal Architect with a focus on Multi-Cloud Architecture. From an architect’s perspective, my interest is always the customer/partner business value, how to identify and develop their requirements into a technical logical design, and then understand the decisions that need to be considered for successful deployment and consumption at scale. How should an enterprise architect approach the Multi-Cloud World ?
Field Based Discussions on VMware Cloud Foundation at EMPOWER 2022
Last month I had the opportunity to present for the VMware EMPOWER 2022 online conference. This conference is primarily aimed at VMware partners, and from a technical perspective, the content is filled with field-based knowledge. One of my technology focus areas is VMware Cloud Foundation. The solution-based approach is of great value from a business and technical perspective. Design and operational impacts and design decisions need to be considered both before and after the solution is deployed.
Become a VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) Today
VMware is proud to announce that another IT professional from Papua New Guinea, has joined the ranks of the elite and now can be called VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) thanks to their VMware certification. This individual became just the latest problem solver around the globe to acquire a library of on-demand IT skills. We know that becoming a VCAP is not for the faint of heart. Each VMware certification path is challenging but sets IT professionals apart from their peers.
VMware Certifications and Badges…Still Working Together to Show Your Expertise
Certifications and digital badges are not so different, but they each serve a specific purpose. Both certifications and badges require exams that are built to the same psychometric standard and quality. Both require skills and abilities to validate your expertise. Working together, they provide a recognition of your individual learning journey and attainment expertise that can lead to expanded capabilities and more opportunities.
IT Certifications Are a Gateway to Career Success
We’re entering uncharted territory. Customers are increasingly spread out and delivering an exceptional experience to them is driving unprecedented IT investments. Executives are prioritizing cloud migration and application modernization projects as a way of responding more quickly to new customer demands.[i] Companies must invest in people well-versed in containers, microservices, cloud management and related technologies to lead them into this new era.
Earn Your VMware Certified Professional Certification Today
If you are not learning, you are not growing. This adage may seem old-fashioned, but the sentiment is as true today as the day it was spoken. Learning can mean a plethora of different things, but for many IT administrators and engineers all around the world, it could mean becoming a VMware Certified Professional (VCP). The VCP certification validates IT professionals’ skills and experience to configure, manage and optimize VMware solutions, placing them in a league of their own.
The VMware Certified Design Expert Journey
VMware creates disruptive technology that provides fantastic business value to the enterprise. The ability to remain flexible with multi- or hybrid cloud strategies helps with many business use cases. But how does an enterprise ensure it is doing so correctly, with a plan for the future and the correct operational processes to consume this technology successfully?
vSAN Destek Haritası
vSAN Merhaba, Her ne kadar vSan yeni bir teknoloji olmasada yapılan çalışma güzel olduğu için sizinle paylaşmak istedim. Algısal olarak bir kuruma yeni teknolojilerin sunulduğunda çok fazla soru işaretini beraberinde doğuyor .Bir teknolojinin başarılı olmasında ki en temel faktörlerden bir taneside desteğin nasıl olacağı konusunda.
Top vBlog 2017 - ElasticSky Voted #49
August 12, 2017 Top vBlog 2017 – ElasticSky Voted #49 Every year Eric works hard with the vCommunity and gathers together the votes for the top virtualisation blogs. I’m happy to say that my blog was voted number #49. Its great to make the Top 50, I didn’t expect to be listed, thanks very much for all the voters. Thanks again to Eric and Turbonomic for running the event
Design Webinar 2 | VCDX mentoring Defense video uploaded
July 17, 2017 Design Webinar 2 | VCDX mentoring Defense video uploaded We had a great design webinar last month with guest presentations from some really experienced guys. Design Process & Methodology mappings – Jason Grierson Risk and SLA – Paul Meehan VCDX-CMA defense experience – Brian Gerrard VCDX in the real world – Bilal Ahmed Mentoring experience – VCDX submission tips / last minute changes – Paul McSharry Thanks to all who presented. The video of the session can be viewed here .
Webinar 3 | DR / BC / & Back up Concepts in Infrastructure Design
July 17, 2017 Webinar 3 | DR / BC / & Back up Concepts in Infrastructure Design The next “Adventures in Infrastructure Design”webinar is planned for July 25th. In this webinar we will concentrate on “DR / BC / & Back up Concepts in Infrastructure Design” We will be discussing design thoughts around DR / BC / Backup and how they link together to create a solution. Presenters Yves Sandfort Rebecca Fitzhugh Paul McSharry Starts : July 25th 2017 2100 – 2230 UK Time
NSX Troubleshooting Thoughts
July 7, 2017 NSX Troubleshooting Thoughts I was clearing out some old training hand outs and updating for the newer versions of VMware materials recently. I came across some mind map , and process walk throughs I have used in the past for NSX discussions. I have had requests before, so I thought they were worth adding to the collection
VCDX Submission Mind Map
June 8, 2017 VCDX Submission Mind Map Over the past few months I have been helping out on a few VCDX prep mocks, reviews and other events. With a new batch of candidates about to submit. I thought this mind map may come in handy. I have had some good feedback from people recently Hopefully this is useful Good luck to all submitting.
Design Webinar | VCDX mentoring - the submission
The next ‘Adventures in infrastructure design’ webinar is currently being planned and I am very honoured to have had such as good response. We had over 40 live attendees on the last webinar and received a lot of requests for the recording and future topics. The next webinar will cover some of these requests in more detail. Presented by several VCDX certified presenters / Mentors and experienced professionals.
SWVMUG Presentation - vROPS & VLI - Its Installed now what do I do?
Recently I was invited by a fellow vExpert friend of mine Simon Eady to present at the SWVMUG session on a requested topic of vROPs and vLI. I have been spending my time on these products within a couple of client projects recently and they are discussed regularly in VCDX mentoring sessions. Most technical how to content is already covered in detail by VMware and the wider community. I took the approach of the day 2 operationalising for the business and design validation / risk mitigation.
Adventures in Infrastructure Design - VCDX Defense Day
It is VCDX defense week and as part of my mentoring activities I organised a webinar with a number of VCDXs. I was very happy and honoured to have had the help from 4 recent VCDXs (Lior, Rebecca, Sjors, & Shady) and 40+ attendees online. We covered final mentoring sessions, final study, tips for the design defense and the design scenario. We finished off with a smaller session running 2 design Mocks (Thanks to Brian & Bali for doing this in front of a few people online).
Adventures in Infrastructure Design - Regular Webinar
Since passing the VCDX, I have been helping out a lot with mentoring. It is especially rewarding to see the change in design approach and improved skillsets as people travel through the VCDX process. As my time is a little limited with work, and family. I will now be running a regular webex session on all things Infrastructure design incorporating VCDX mentoring. This session will, at times be primarily aimed at the VCDX journey, with mocks and process discussions.
The vcdx presentation deck
As part of my mentoring activities, with the defense week approaching I have been reviewing a lot of slide decks. Now I have seen quite a few , have experience of my unsuccessful approach and my final successful defense I thought it may provide some value to review the process in more detail as a mentor post. As normal the first place to review is the VCDX blueprint. This document provides the context , it states, “Concisely explain the design and justify the decisions made to create it”.
Preparing for the VCDX Defense Design Scenario
Although the majority of mocks tend to concentrate on a specific candidate design submission, there is another area for the VCDX candidate to prepare for – the design scenario. This is an important area to show to the panelists that you have skills to lead a customer facing design workshop, and create a design from conceptual to physical solution. Basically, get up and do a bit of adhoc design! In the design defense section, the panelists are your peers.
vSAN 6.6 Update Mindmap
April 19, 2017 vSAN 6.6 Update Mindmap The latest vSAN build has just been announced. Its crammed packed with new features and some really good production use cases. As part of my learning process for client work and teaching the vSAN courses for VMware Education I have created an update feature mind map Hopefully it is useful for others looking at this excited release.
My VMworld 2017 Session Proposals
March 29, 2017 My VMworld 2017 Session Proposals It’s VMworld session voting time again. While on a work project with a long commute I thought I would submit a few sessions this year and see how the voting goes.
Implementation plans for the vcdx documentation.
The VCDX is a validation of the ability to lead a project within a large enterprise. A couple of questions popped up regarding implementation plan details on Slack and I thought it was a perfect subject to delve into a little. An implementation plan for the VCDX is the opportunity for the candidate to illustrate the knowledge of project methodology, from conceptual to physical. Depending on the scale and use case there will be specific phases with potentially multiple personnel or teams involved.
Thank you again for the considerable time and effort…..
You have worked many hours, spent time away from the family, lived the journey and made it into the defense. You are even ok after the torturous 10 day wait time. Then you get the dreaded result of “ Unsuccessful” Most VCDX certified professionals will have failed at least once. There is no shame in it ( Like that helps when you have just spent 6 months + on it). Once the emotions have subsided, it’s time to regroup. Documentation – Was this your best work?
Post VCDX defense thoughts | You will be notified in 10 days.
You will be notified in 10 days…… Now breathe, the defense is over. However, the process isn’t… VCDX panelists are very friendly and polite, but, they are not going to give any clue on whether you passed or failed. So, until you have that VCDX welcome email, it’s still prep time. Write all the questions and answers you can remember down now. These are vital clues into design and knowledge weakness the panel thought after their review. These were areas they wanted answered to get you a pass.
VCDX Supporting Docs | Validation Plans
The validation plan in an important document for an architect. Often a solution will be configured by a number of different providers, personnel, and external contractors It should be possible to plan, prior to implementation, a suitable method to prove the solution, when presented to the client, complies to the physical design.
VCDX Supporting Docs | Config, Install, & SETs
The next submission date is approaching and a few people are asking how important are the supporting docs. The design document is in my opinion the most important area, however it is just one area of the submission. Once a design is created, how does an architect prove the design meets the requirements in the real world? How does an architect ensure the solution is not an operational nightmare for other teams?
Is my project good enough for VCDX?
The VCDX certification is to many ‘validation’ of a skill set. To others its a ‘certification’ that gives them an area to study for and aim towards. Personally, I think both are valid and there are blog posts are out there that discuss this very subject. Can you hit all areas of the blueprint from your documentation? Is a common answer I have heard – but what does that mean? I am currently helping a few people with their VCDX preparation.
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