Thanks to the good people at Veeam including the Veeam Vanguard Program, I wanted to show my appreciation for the upcoming opportunity to attend VeeamON in Miami by sharing a few thoughts that may be beneficial to those interested in the various programs and technologies provided by Veeam.

A special thanks goes to Rick Vanover , Melissa Palmer, Joe Hughes and many others in the Veeam Community for their continued support of my efforts and also for those in the #vCommunity for doing the same. As I’ve stated many times, if you’re not involved in the #vCommunity in some capacity, you’re missing out!

Rick provided me the opportunity to join the Veeam Vanguard Program earlier this year and continues to support my efforts which includes attending VeeamON as a first time Vanguard with the possibility of presenting during the event. On one hand I’m nervous and on the other, I welcome the challenge and look forward to meeting fellow Vanguards and attendees.

Melissa has been tremendous with her feedback and suggestions as I continue to evolve while learning more about Veeam. At the same time, she supports the #vCommunity tremendously with her tech blogs and books, which she has generously donated to DC VMUG.

Joe (a fellow VMUG leader) is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He’s always positive and continues to provide the necessary feedback which will hopefully strengthen my technical skills but he does so in a humble manner without expecting anything in return.

If you’re not familiar with Veeam, please check out the recordings listed below which included Michael Cade, Anthony Spiteri, and David Hill as presenters during Cloud Field Day 5.

What is VeeamON and what does it include if you attend? It’s a yearly conference and it provides an opportunity to meet with industry experts, attend breakout sessions, and receive a substantial discount (50% off) of Veeam training. For a list of the various training options provided at VeeamON, please click here. Personally speaking, I’m going to take full advantage of this discount and have committed to the VMCE training package.

What is the Veeam Vanguard Program? It’s a community of like minded IT professionals that provide their input and expertise as it applies to Veeam and its technologies. Included in the program is access to Veeam product teams, the Veeam community forum and the ability to network w\ fellow Vanguards. I highly encourage you to check out the video posted here to learn more about the program. Applications for the program are accepted once a year and your best bet to stay on top of any updates related to the program is to follow the Veeam Vanguard Twitter account.

I would also suggest getting involved in your local Veeam User Group. I recently attending a VUG session and I came away with a positive and learning experience. Moving forward, I hope to attend as many session as possible and would welcome Veeam as a DC VMUG sponsor in the future!

If you’re interested in learning more about Veeam, my various Veeam blog posts are listed below:

If you’re attending VeeamON in Miami, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to meeting as many people as possible including Vanny Vanguard while also learning as much as possible about Veeam through the various sessions.

If you’d like to connect via Twitter, I can be found here. Thanks for your time and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.