It’s now been a few days after VeeamOn 2022, and I had some time to reflect on the first conference I attended post-Covid. (yes, I know Covid is still very much alive, but hybrid conferences are starting to be the new norm).
So, let me first say it was a blast. I have done, I don’t know how many, virtual conferences in the past 2 years (or 10, because if feels like eternity). When I attended the first virtual conference in 2020, Cisco Live, it was a novelty, but by the end of 2021, it surely had lost its appeal. And by no means do I want to diminish the work organizers put into a virtual conference; you just can’t beat meeting people in person to exchange ideas and build relationships.
Alright, not only was this the first conference post-Covid but also the first time I was able to attend VeeamOn 2022. And thanks to the excellent team around Rick, Madalina, and Nikola, attending as a Veeam Vanguard was surely a special experience.
Due to some bad storms around DC I got in on Sunday a bit later than I cared for. When I was finally in my hotel room, it was 1:00am east coast time, and as much as I wanted to hang out with fellow Vanguards, I was just too tired. So I got some ok sleep, and Monday was time to register, have breakfast and jump on a call with Rick and the rest of the Vanguard Crew to talk about the next few days. It was also great to finally meet some Vanguard in person for the first time!
While at the conference at the Aria, Rick reached out to me to do a fill-in for the Voice of customer panel for a customer who could not make it to Vegas. And if Rick asks, you say yes, of course😉
Speaking of, this is one of the great opportunities with the Veeam Vanguard program. There are opportunities offered that are just amazing. So, I guess I was going to be a speaker now!
There were many other Vanguard presentations, and I enjoyed all of the ones I was able to attend.
We had a great panel discussion on Veeam from the customer side, best practices, and lessons learned.
Tuesday started with the opening keynote and prepared us for the conference.
I attended numerous sessions, and for me, there were 3 takeaways.
- Version 12 is going to be a big game-changer; I believe this will be the most significant upgrade ever, with more security built-in, MFA, and Best Practice Analyzer, to name a few.
- Immutable, hardened Linux Repositories; While this is not new, I felt it had become mainstream, and more and more organizations are implementing it. As a matter of fact, LabWars focused heavily on this.
- Object storage in the Datacenter; There is definitely a trend, not only at VeeamOn, for object storage moving to Datacenters. This is one of the topics that got me really excited! Object storage will make it much easier to handle large amounts of data and integrate immutability. Plus, we don’t have to “fear” Microsoft patches and changes that affect ReFS and our Repos.
I was able to play with Version 12 and hardened repos at HandsOnLabs. I always enjoy those Labs, and they were done very well. This is also where I first saw the Best Practice Analyzer!
Lastly, the VeeamOn Party was a blast. It took place at Drai’s nightclub, featuring Coolio and Nelly. While this is not necessarily my preferred music, it was a lot of fun, and the DJ got everyone moving!
All in all, it was a great experience. I was so grateful to be able to meet many Vanguards in person for the first time and to hear about Veeam’s plan for the future.
VeeamOn 2023 will be taking place in Miami, where it was in 2019. I did not attend back then but heard stories…Hopefully, I will see you all there!
(Official Disclaimer: Veeam paid for my conference pass)
