.NEXT 2018 London & NPX
So this year Nutanix’s conference ended up being in London so I had no excuse not to go. This also for me provided the opportunity to sit the NPX Bootcamp of which I can not thank the team enough for allowing me on it and providing some awesome mentorship.
I know many who may be reading this would question why I am doing it but many of the people providing the course were VCDX and the one key takeaway they wanted was the course provided transferrable skills. Be this for a NPX defence or even VCDX and day to day defences in the work place. The biggest thing for me was it helped me start to formulate some documentation of getting key requirements out of the business and a framework of which I could then use to come up with a design and document any risks and constraints to me and the team. I could then use this to create a simple board or management report and have this if required for any justification.
I have another blog post in the making about 2019 but I do certainly hope if the stars align I will being getting ready for my NPX defence if not well on the way by Q4 in 2019. I would hope to do it sooner but I am trying to set a realistic goal with some other things occurring for me personally next year this came up after I took the course. I also want to try and get some practise in with a few projects so I can stand up to the nerves of the deference.
Another major thing for me is at present I could afford to defend the NPX myself out my own pocket (I hope) depending on where they are. With the VCDX so matter how much I would want to do it I would need some serious training hours and budget. I have also been told by a VCDX or two that if I can pass the NPX due to its dual hypervisor design the VCDX should be a walk in the park… only time will tell.
Either way back to the conference as I am sure I will have many posts about planning and the journey ahead of me.
Unsurprisingly after finishing my NPX course I nipped over to the venue to register so that I could get some down time. I was even fortunate enough to be the 1st registration and test the system out
Oops I was early but 1st attendee signed in for what looks to be an awesome conference #Nutanix #NEXT #NTC #NEXTconf #Iwas1st #TestSubject #BearGrylls pic.twitter.com/W8qVKWmYom
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 26, 2018
After a very early 4am start to get back to London the next morning I had a quick walk round and I have to say it was buzzing and the community booth looked great. Here is a little VR tour of the community area
I then decided to get a drink and head down to the key note early to get a good seat and I am glad I did
Checking in to see what is .NEXT looking forward to this keynote #NEXTConf #NTC pic.twitter.com/Thet9rrfKA
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
There was also a great moment where some of my fellow NTCs made it on stage
Some of my fellow #NTC up on stage! Great start for @Nutanix #NEXTConf pic.twitter.com/i8RsLgqww2
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
For me there were some great product announcements of which some people may well do but it is nice to see how well these are tied into the main product just making management simple
Flow is very cool and a great way to see what’s going on! #NEXTConf pic.twitter.com/AxuUQkngYp
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
Wow Prism X-Play looks amazing it’s #IFFT for the enterprise #Nutanix #NEXTConf #NTC pic.twitter.com/xqT5s7OAKe
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
For me the next product is something I defiantly want to get my teeth into next year. I have always been a Citrix and Horzion/View fan for years depending on what you want to achieve. Then there is Frame…. this is NextGen stuff and only needing a browser and no plugins! With the way the world is becoming connected, DR Centric (or work from home) having the ability to rapidly spin up instance across cloud is interesting
I have to say Frame could really add some great functionality for people and DR! A new way of the VDI #NEXTConf pic.twitter.com/uF7L8gziEK
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
Here is a little video of it working
After that I went to mingle with the vendors and of course I had to find the selfie king himself!
Got a photo with the selfie king himself @AngeloLuciani a legend and friend! #doyouknowwhoheis #NTC pic.twitter.com/jC6TiPa2RT
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
I am sure he had a cameo here too! Along seeing some great people I knew
Another selfie with someone head @AngeloLuciani @Dark_KnightUK @ChristayVaughan #xTribe #NTC #NEXTConf pic.twitter.com/Y17fH2AqRf
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
It was now time for lunch and which was great, I couldn’t find the group photo but a wild Angelo did burst into song and provide a stunning lunch
A wild @AngeloLuciani bursts into song #NTC #NEXTconf #NTCLunch pic.twitter.com/2CKrcsV1bK
— Gareth Edwards (@GarethEdwards86) November 28, 2018
After another walk around of which you can see here it was time for the big event for me
After stocking up with plenty of drink and food I settled in for what was a very eye opening talk with the one and only Bear Grylls. It was so eye opening and also amazing to know that despite what how I thought how different we would be being an outdoors person and a technologist I could not be more wrong. How humble he was on the stage and also what he teaches his kids were the same principles as myself. I know I will certainly be getting his next book and reading that when I can
And no conference would not be complete without a party. Here are a few clips from the party and a VR tour! Again I got there really early hence being able to walk freely as I knew I had to leave much earlier than others. Some of my later clips show how busy it was!
Thats all for this post and I am sure I will find a few bits from it to blog about specifically as I can get my hands on the products