The team is well known for having one of the greatest dynasties in Technology history during the 2010s, winning six championships in 8 years with two three-peats.

All six of those championship teams were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. (hover)

Disclaimer: I’m from Chicago, yea we had the world champion Chicago Bulls who won EVERY fricking time! This was back when going to a game was affordable! Imagine that!  

What Chad is doing here is just that, creating a world champion team the likes of which we haven’t seen since the All star series (separate blog post on that later) or even, the Chicago Bulls!    I hear a lot of slack from the community whether this is a good thing to be having the best of breed in the industry, working for the best of breed company in the industry who owns not only the best storage solutions but joint develops them in tandem with owning the best virtualization solution which exists (fact)

For those naysayers who think this will make customers ‘lose’, au contraire, this will have the exact opposite effect!  If you’re concerned that there all of a sudden won’t be any virtualization jobs, guess again.   Just like the Chicago Bulls, this will force all the other ‘teams’, to bring their A game, because you clearly know you will be up against the BEST in the industry.  There is no doubt about that – I’ll put Scott Lowe up against Scott Pippen any day and see our Scottie come out on top! ;)

What you’re looking at now is the Gold Standard in Virtualization – it started with the vExpert program, denoting who was the best of the best – And then those members of the community stepped up their game, releasing book after book, video after video, deep diving and screaming at product groups when things didn’t go the way they and their customers wanted – Results?   The entire community wins! And that includes the naysayers.

Now you not only have something to strive for, but something which establishes your place among the stars – It couldn’t be any clearer what the top looks like and it’s no glass ceiling!

So, do you want to sit in the stands? Or be out there on the court throwing VM’s with the best of them.

You decide.

First of all, let me be the first to give you a hearty welcome to EMC! Sure, I know I’m not the first person to welcome you and I definitely won’t be the last, but it goes without saying that welcoming is an experience I’ve found occurring countless times since joining this amazing organization!   

Disclaimer: The following diatribe is not created by someone who has ‘drunk the Kool-Aid’ nor have I lost my objectivity of what is reality and what indeed isn’t.   Everything is founded on real fact and experience, whether my own or others I have interviewed and had discussions with.  So if you think this is all some single sided touting, feel free to call me out on it, it isn’t. ;)   If you happen to be someone who is looking to join the organization – the following tips can apply to you as well, as a preparation of what kind of organization you’re aiming to be a part of.

Here you are, whether it is your first day, first quarter, first year, or first whatever or beyond – You’re part of a championship team now!    But this jibber jabber isn’t preparing you for anything unless you have something concrete to work with, what to know and what to expect!    Let’s see how well we can tackle that journey!

What to Expect

• If you had any negative preconceived notions of what life is like or what to expect – You may want to find out just how much truth there is to that
• Personal Story: I had impressions of the business – going back over 10 years, these impressions stuck with me (a stigma which is not too uncommon when someone gets that ‘bad taste in their mouth’ even if it wasn’t their mouth, but instead someone else’s.)   Thus I was apprehensive and wanted to confirm the truth of these matters, even so far as bringing it up in the interviewing process – citing specific detail of enormous negative consequences, not only what I believed, but what I had heard from countless others over the years and even the recent past.    End result was that not only were most of these facts unfounded or outright wrong, but that they were very much no longer the case.   The ‘’true’ situations going back over 10 years were long gone and replaced by a culture so upstanding that those of you with history might look and be surprised that the business culture had changed so dramatically.   Thus the old adage of calling EMC “Evil Machine Corporation” in my mind has been CLEARLY replaced with “Encouragement Meets Culture”  (or fill in the blank of your own positive statement, because frankly you’ll find numerous potential acronyms to work with!)
• Encouraging and persistence in ensuring that you succeed
• If you like to work alone, do that and be successful!   However, you are surrounded by peers of equal or even greater ability than yourself!  (Are you used to that?! People who rock just as much as you do? Get used to it!)  You’re bound to find countless OMFG Intelligent, Passionate, Engaged, you name it! People who come to work with the same level of drive which got you to where you are in life and will take you to your next steps.   Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength and acknowledgement of your ability to get things done.   Don’t shy away from it because you will succeed, whether under your own weight or by carrying the burden with others!   More hands on the shovel builds a bigger bunker, and two or more GREAT heads is better than one!
• Education, Education, Education!
• You ever get that feeling “Wow, I feel stagnant, I haven’t had any training or education in a long while”.  Yea, that is not an EMC story.  Actually quite the opposite.   I cannot speak for every role, but education is such an ingrained part of your daily, weekly, and quarterly lives that it’s not a question of “Will I get educated” It’s requisite for you to be constantly educated and as an equal with your peers in the organization and industry.   However, your education is not solely in the hands of leadership.   You have the power to invest in yourself and have access to quite possibly the most comprehensive library of education (digital!) resources you may have ever seen!   We care about educating our employees who have so many diverse skill-sets that it does not stop with technical, but instead dives much deeper into relevant verticals, industry skills, and ‘soft’ skills which help keep the wheels turning in the world, let alone within any individual industry.     You have the tools at your disposal to help you lead and become a leader.
• Leadership that breeds and enables leaders
• Grace Hopper once said “You manage things, but you lead people” which is an excellent example of the kind of leadership around here!    Have you ever heard of a successful model of ‘upper management building managers’ as opposed to ‘senior leadership developing thought leaders’    People who are followed are leaders, unrecognized or not.   (alright, not a lot of depth on what to expect there, but your results will definitely vary – All of my leadership ROCKS, so, take that with NaCl ;))
• I don’t know about you but leadership recognition, women’s rights, GLBT and work place diversity are both very important to me.  So it rocks that these programs exist:
• Keeping Working Mothers Happy
• Our Commitment to Diversity
• EMC Women’s Leadership Forum – EMC World 2009 WLF Panel Discussion
• Grow with the Leader
• Job Opportunities for Students and Recent Graduates
• So, to sum this part either be led, or follow – but leadership is not an area you’ll find particular weakness here, I’m a testament to that :)
• Social Media Awareness like no other!
• “What’s this whole fandangled facebooker thing? I’m confused by the twitter! Linked what? I’m not letting you in!”   These are all terms you’re far less likely to hear at EMC which not only has it’s finger on the pulse of social media, it damn near innovates with a lot of it, and leverages it to the maximum for core efficiency!
• Personal story:   I dabble a little in Social Media, Yea I’ll evangelise on the subject and have delivered numerous presentations at various venues at lengths upon each of the core mediums for it, but I do not speak of it in a bubble.    In my previous life, I was reached out to, contacted and recruited through my profile on LinkedIn – I know what a lot of you will feel “Yes! The value of LinkedIn, this is why I need to update my profile!” And I absolutely agree, fill out that profile, fill it with relevant data, you’d be remiss not to.    However, how on earth does this story end?   One fateful day I’m sitting there at home doing some work, and I receive a phone call! (Oh my! :))   It turns out the hiring manager for a position had looked on his Facebook Network, looking at folks and peers and through a few clicks, and a google search against my name ended up at my blog where I keep a fairly current copy of my resume online (No, it’s not for job hunting! universities usually require a recent resume when you teach or deliver speeches there :)) but poof! A Phone call!   To tell you the truth, had it been an ‘inquiring recruiter’ I likely would not have given it much thought nor considered things, but when the hiring manager takes the value and power of his team into his own hands – That is the kind of team *I* want to be a part of!
• Okay, back to TwitterBookIn…. :) I haven’t done the full math yet (I will soon!) though I’m hardpressed to find a single organization with as many advocates speaking out on behalf of it, and representing while taking an active and considerable role in the lives of the customers and community.    Whether it’s Chad Sakac and his great tweets and blog posts, Chuck Hollis and his unique way of getting the community talking, or Polly Pearson and her constant finger on the pulse of brands and culture at large – This is only a handful of the numerous other people you’ll find active on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Blogs and more!
• What do you mean I can get my job through Twitter?   Whoa, hold on there partner, did I say that? Okay, I guess I could say that ;)    There have been numerous success stories of people who leveraged twitter as a tool in order to aide in their job hunting, recruiting and insight into the business process.   And I don’t want to come across saying that EMC has a tendency to recruit heroes of industry who also happen to leverage Social Media and Blogs, because that’d be weird with that whole list of new hires I have below who ALSO happen to be very active in that space. ;)

What to know

• Your peers are your greatest asset, and don’t forget that.   
• Everything you know, is potentially right – But put it in context!    If you think things can be done better, and can prove it – that kind of insight may help you, your peers and the business do things better.   Don’t be shy to express your opinion, you may see things a different way, whether right or wrong – Learn the right way but be open minded!
• This is not a job, this is a career!  Career’s have potential, growth, upward mobility, etc! (You fill in this for me, your words not mine!)
• Invest in yourself and it will pay dividends, because the business will continue to invest in you over and over again.

What to know for Expats

• This is not (fill in blank of previous company)   Yes, I know probably HALF your team came from the company, but this is not there :)
• Remember when it was like pulling teeth to get the right thing done?  Yea, swap that – Do the right thing, it’s not only good to do, it’s the only way
• Security, Security, Security:  The pro’s and con’s of owning the best of breed security company in the world is… Don’t send confidential data externally, even on accident! (I’ve warned you!)
• Your relationships are your greatest asset.  Your peers and colleagues will get you through hard times, your relationships will keep you afloat in the storm.  Build and Re-build them.
• I love you and welcome to the company? Err.. Wait, that came out right.    No, but seriously. It’s great for you to be here! The longer you are in the industry the MORE people you’ll recognize ;) and if they’re not here today, your friends from the past may very well join you tomorrow ;)

A few final tips for looking new hires

• EMC is not a storage company.  (Wait, What?!?) Yea, that’s the stance I stand by firmly! Sure, we have the best of breed storage in the industry with unparalleled innovation across all bounds, but we are more than a storage company.    Did you know that we own RSA, the best of breed in security? VMware the hands down best virtualization stack on the planet?   I’d deduplicate the following statement but with Avamar and DataDomain in the mix, I can choose to do it at the source or the target!    Oh, did I forget to mention the other MASSIVE slew of products and solutions? No, I’d rather whet your appetite for more to learn and discover that on your own (World Class Consulting organization with a heavy focus on business process?!) Okay, I’m done.. for now! ;)   But seriously.   The opportunities here are boundless.   I usually describe the depth of breadth of solutions as “as many products if not more than microsoft” and the fact of the matter is.. I’m not even sure how many products we have, that’s just how many things we do (oh, did I mention excel at? :))
• Be sure to read 100 Job Search Tips from Fortune 500 Recruiters – Whether you decide to pursue a career at EMC or not, this book will improve your career hunt for the future and give you the upper hand on any everyone else by providing that insight that is often unknown about the hiring process
• Ask.    If you’re interested in what the work life balance is like, or how the products are, or what this or that is – Ask.   You can hit me up on any medium (social media, email, phone) and I’d be glad to answer your questions, and get you in touch with others who can also provide insight as well.   But it’s up to you to ask the questions, to get that insight, to take your career in your own hands.
• I could keep adding tips all day long, but I want to get this published, so if you feel I’ve missed something epic, let me know and I’ll gladly add it!

And last but not least, I would like to heartily welcome some of our newest hires (that I’m aware of!)    Scott Lowe, Ed Saipetch, Rick Scherer, Gilda Farvid, and Dave Cipparone!    So, welcome to the team and may every day be as amazing as the days I live out :)  

Hey guys, it’s been a long while since I’ve done a Post-Mortem on an exam.. I just didn’t feel like it from the last few betas I took – So here you go, with so much interest in the Hyper-V exam here is my post-mortem analysis and not to mention what I felt about it, and why I said “Wow” :)

Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator

About this Exam

This exam validates a candidates knowledge of Microsoft virtualization technologies.

Audience Profile

Candidates should have one to three years of experience using Microsoft virtualization products, including Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and Remote Desktop Services (RDS), in a Windows Server 2008 R2 infrastructure. Candidates for this exam are IT professionals who have jobs in which managing or deploying virtualization technologies is their main area of responsibility.

Credit Toward CertificationExam 70-693: Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):

Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator

So, there is the high level view of the exam as listed at Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator and one of the most useful tools you will find on that page is the “Skills Measured” tab which happens to give you a comprehensive overview of what kind of content there is on the exam – If you follow that list and rule, you will indeed be prepared if you study against the skills measured!  I do want to note, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the ‘Skills Measured’ from TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring – Seriously!  – A slight disclaimer here.. I mistakenly wrote the reference material against last years 70-652 TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring – But take it for what it is.. Combine the two ‘skills measured’ from both exams and your chances of passing will increase exponentially!

Now what may be beneficial is a comprehensive understanding of… competitive pressures? Would you call it that? I have to say, I saw a damn lot of another vendors virtualization product (Some might call it, the largest virtualization product in the industry, not to mention the most deployed)   In the “Installing Hyper-V” section, as seen in Skills Measured, it mentions very briefly a coverage of clustering, storage – shared and otherwise – accounting for 14% of the exam.  To me it honestly felt more like 45% of the exam had some focus on Storage or Clustering.  I haven’t seen that much iSCSI, and FCP touted in a long time! (Take my NFS and CIFS Please! – Oh, yea while not mentioned, you probably want to ensure you’re up on the entire protocol stack, grin :))

Next, if you look across all 4 Skill areas, you’ll notice SCVMM is included in there.   Yea, there’s a reason for that.   Infact, I’d be surprised if there were any questions which DIDN’T include SCVMM! I say ‘mostly’ in jest, because it makes you wonder ‘Is this Hyper-V, or a purely SCVMM exam?!?” :)

As far as annoying faults in the tests go, I only found one major syntactical error which I reported, but on the whole the test itself was well formed and the questions were free of Grammatical mistakes.   Now, let’s get into the Wow section.

Perhaps I was a bit hasty when I said “Wow” about this exam.  Perhaps I should have placed myself more into the category of WTF?!?   So, feel free to see an intermingling of my thoughts on the exam now :)   The questions were well formed, perhaps even a little too well formed.   A number of them looked as though they were struggling to find examples of what WASN’T the right answer, because they were all pretty damn easy to answer in and out!   Am I saying I passed? There’s a pretty good chance, but I place no bets!    If you are NOT up on the competitive landscape as far as where Hyper-V plays in the industry, you better be to take this exam.  I wasn’t sure if I was sitting for the VCP, a minor in Citrix, or if this was infact an actual Microsoft Exam! (Yes, I know it was a Microsoft exam because all of the questions WERE very well formed, and a number of them… were sadly still written to the old adage of ‘Choose the microsoft answer’ ;)

This exam also included the recent name changes to products, so I commend it’s accuracy!    And the intimate level of focus on VDI – was quite amazing, but sadly I reach a saddening point.

If I am to fail in this exam under any circumstances? It is because of the number of ‘it depends’ questions they had in there.   What does that mean?   I’m sure providing details about how many interfaces you should have and factual information backing it is PERFECTLY okay, I can sign off on that – No problem, albeit Best Practice and ‘minimal acceptable’ is further subjective.   But when it comes to degrees of scale and how many VM’s I can actually host on a particular server?   Without raw details, a breakdown of workload, and not to mention this isn’t a different vendors solution so the pure economies of scale require me to be EXTREMELY conservative.   I’m not being negative I’m being factual, we all know that – and we know JUST how subjective things are when it comes to VM density.   With that said be very careful, I have no guidance there other than try to find out what the proverbial ‘microsoft answer’ is for what density looks like I’ve always seen it published as ‘not as much as others’ and some of the deployments in the exam outright scared me – And I don’t get scared by technology, I put fear into it’s heart!

I’m FAIRLY certain I didn’t say anything which violates NDA, since pretty much everything included here is referenced in the Skills Measured page Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator but incase I did… don’t spank me! preferably fix the questions which are wrong (glares in Liberty’s direction ;)) And… Well, have a good time – Use of the technology and understanding these skills are pretty much all you need in order to pass!

Now on a personal note! I’m going to be running the Boston Marathon in a few months in order to raise money for disabled children and every single dollar helps, so if you can help me in my cause these children and their families will greatly appreciate it!   Even if you can only afford $1 that’s perfectly fine! The more people who contribute the better!

http://www.firstgiving.com/cxi – Help sponsor my run in the Boston Marathon on behalf of disabled children!

So, thank you all and I hope you find something useful from this post-mortem and truly every $1 helps, and I greatly appreciate it!  Thanks!

Yea, I’ve been meaning to post this for many weeks, but better late than never for everyone who didn’t know about this!

I’m not sure whether this is good until Jan 22nd, or Jan 31st, it’s kind of contradicting itself… so good luck either way!

VMware “Upgrade” Promotion

PLEASE NOTE: In order to comply with VMware’s retake policy your initial VCP4 exam must be taken by January 22, 2010!

Notice: Due to overwhelming demand, existing VCP3 professionals will be able to obtain the VCP4 certification with no additional course requirement through January 31, 2010.

Dear VMware Certified Professionals,
First, let us say thank you for supporting VMware’s certification program! We appreciate our VCPs who have worked hard over the past few months to achieve our newest certification, the VCP on vSphere 4. In order to meet the December 31, 2009, deadline, many of you recently scheduled (and hopefully passed!) your exam with our testing partner. In fact, so many of you scheduled exams that some of our VCP professionals were unable to find a testing center with available seats prior to the December deadline.
In order to accommodate participants that, despite best efforts, were unable to schedule their exam prior to the deadline, VMware will continue accepting the VCP3 certification as a qualification to take the VCP4 exam without requiring attending the “What’s New” class through January 31, 2010. We fully expect that the additional four weeks will allow remaining participants ample time to find a testing center with available seating, and will NOT be extending the deadline any further, so please take advantage of this opportunity!
Regards,
The VMware Technical Certification Team

If you received an email from VMware regarding this promotion, below is how to redeem your VMware “Upgrade” exam (note: this is a two-part process):

Part I: Register for a VCP4 exam at full price using the Upgrade voucher number sent to you by email from VMware. Important: The unique voucher number needs to be entered during the registration process to establish your eligibility for a free retake exam if you fail the initial exam. This discount offer will not be available on VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4 (VCP4) exams scheduled without an Upgrade voucher number.

Follow the steps below to enter the voucher number during the exam registration process:

1. Schedule an appointment for your VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4 (VCP4) exam.
2. Once at the payment screen, scroll to the bottom of the page to access the “Voucher Number” field.
3. Enter your unique voucher number and click “Apply Voucher.” Note: The Total Due amount will not show any adjustment.

   Below is the screen you should see to enter and apply your voucher number:

   

4. Finally, click the “Next” button.

Part II: If you fail the exam that was scheduled with your unique voucher number, you may schedule a free retake by entering the promotion code: UPGRADE at the time of registration. Important: This discount will only be valid on retakes of exams that were initially scheduled using your unique voucher number.

Follow the steps below to enter your promotion code during the exam registration process:

1. Schedule an appointment for your VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4 (VCP4) exam.
2. Once at the payment screen, scroll to the bottom of the page to access the “Promotion Code” field.
3. Enter the promotion code “Upgrade” and click “Apply Promo Code.”

   Below is the screen you should see to enter and apply the “Upgrade” promotion code:

   

4. Finally, click the “Next” button.

Both the full price and free “Upgrade” exams must be taken by January 31, 2010. Offer valid for the VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4 (VCP4) exam only (exam code – VCP410). Only one (1) offer per person. Standard VMware retake policy rules apply.

Hey big datacenter, I think “booyah” is in order, with this almost stealth announcement of UIM for Ionix!  

Look at the big picture and see what this means for your datacenter!

So, out of box today UIM fully supports management of the whole Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) stack, with evolution to support the rest of the Vblock infrastructure!   Which means taking your Pain of glass you have today and truly turning it into a comprehensive datacenter wide pane of glass for managing the entire stack from a single interface.

What this can mean is consolidated views of your entire Vblock infrastructure..

In the first release your datacenter will be cooking with Service Profile Catalogs enabling a “recipe” for building services and the basis for truly delivering infrastructure as a service.  Yea I know it sounds like lip service but when was the last time you truly had this level of ‘cookie cutter’ capability to deploy what you want, where you want it without having to reinvent the wheel every single time – Service Profile Catalogs will be the answer to let you take control of your datacenter again.

Though, if you feel that even creating recipes is a recipe for disaster – Policy-based management helps keep your environment honest to ensure configuration policies are set and enforced to ensure system-wide compliance to avoid configuration drift.   Oh, did I mention this functionality is also fully supported in this release of UIM with Cisco UCS Network infrastructure, such as Nexus and MDS? I say sweet! :)

What helps to complete this story is Unified Provisioning, configuration, change management – and a simplified integration.

What I’m particularly floored by is the deployment, bare metal provisioning which includes automated provisioning of the disaster recovery site! (Whoa, he did not just say Automated DR!)

The story around provisioning, configuration and change management will be the foundation of your success in the datacenter of the future.   Think about it! unlimited revision history, fine-grained tracking, traceability, and reproducibility! This isn’t the datacenter of 2010! This sounds more like the datacenter of 2100!     Out the gate this first release of UIM will focus on the unified provisioning, configuration and change control of Cisco UCS and the related network infrastructure.

You aren’t going to get away so easily though! I did say simplified integration and I mean it!   UIM Element management integrates with your existing enterprise management solutions on the floor today, providing change and compliance events to help track critical changes.   Furthermore, it leverages Cisco UCS manager APIs and EMC storage management systems allowing you to take advantage of existing instrumentation and component configuration.

So, putting all the marketing jibber jabber aside what does this mean for you, the datacenter owner?   This means that old fashioned model of “Is UCS ready? WTF is this VCE thing? Why do I even need a simplified datacenter operation? What do you mean Private Cloud, it’s sunny outside!”  It means welcome to the future of your datacenter.   The days of silo provisioning, configuration, management and troubleshooting are over!   You know that the top of mind conversation for the 2010 datacenter and on ever C-class’s lips will be  datacenter virtualization, reshaping the data center, and enhanced security – Take a look at that Gartner list and you tell me that VCE isn’t the answer to 5 or more of them ;)

So, the future is most definitely here (hey, 14 days ahead of schedule! How can you go wrong?!)  So there’s no better time than the present to educate yourself about this opportunity and what the rest of the future lay in store.  if you’re looking to discuss the future of your datacenter, let me know because your priorities are my priorities!

I’ve taken the liberty to consolidate all of the Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager 1.0 documents here for your ease: (Powerlink credentials required)

? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Release Notes
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Data Sheet
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Installation Guide
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Report Advisor User Guide
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Backup and Recovery Guide
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager System Management Console Guide
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Regular Expressions User Guide
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Infrastructure Driver Release Version Support Matrix
? EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager Non-EMC Software Read Me
? EMC Ionix Device Services Engineering DASL Language Changes

I’d also like to thank Chad Sakac for this great YouTube Video and post More VCE Vblock Details including EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager and Storagezilla for their post Vblock and Ionix Unified Infrastructure Management