Top 10 VMworld 2019 sessions to consider

This year's VMworld conference promises IT professionals the return of some of its most popular topics, such as vSphere and PKS, as well as newly emerging trends surrounding machine learning and AI.

The VMworld 2019 sessions catalog boasts more than 900 breakouts, keynotes and roundtables. If you haven't planned your schedule yet, we've chosen some of the top sessions to get you started. From microsegmentation and containers to software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and 5G, VMworld 2019 offers a mix of everything. And for those who already filled out their schedules, consider these as possible additions to your VMworld plans. If we've missed any of your favorites, be sure to let us know in the comments.

1. What's New with vSphere? [HBI2893BU]

VMware vSphere offers IT pros fundamental benefits for managing workloads, such as the ability to migrate running VMs, so it's no wonder vSphere continues to be a must-have topic for VMworld. In this session, attendees can expect an in-depth overview of new and existing features, direction updates and changes, tech previews and other vital data points -- such as end-of-support reminders -- that will help IT pros stay up to date on vSphere in 2019.

SPEAKERS

Michael Adams, senior director, Cloud Platform Business Unit, VMware

Adam Eckerle, group manager, vSphere Technical Marketing, VMware

2. VMware Essential PKS - Getting Started [SPL-2033-01-CNA_U]

Kubernetes is a hot topic for many IT pros, and VMware's Essential Pivotal Container Service (PKS) is a technology any IT pro should know, no matter his expertise level. In this session, attendees can expect an introduction to the particulars of VMware's Essential PKS, as well as three other VMware open source projects that extend Kubernetes for use in production environments. Important products, such as Kubernetes cluster lifecycle management, Contour, Sonobuoy and Velero, will be discussed, and attendees will be able to see how these products help control, support, back up and restore Kubernetes' complex functions.

SPEAKERS

Tiago Baeta, cloud management specialist, VMware

Mark McGill, senior technical account manager, VMware

3. A Look Under the Hood with Microsegmentation and Containers [EDU2393U]

This session will touch on NSX-T, containers and PKS. Discussions will include a wide array of topics and best practices, such as how microsegmentation works and how it applies to containers, the benefits of NSX-T, the zero-trust model, microservices architecture, potential vulnerabilities and security when it comes to IT pros' environments and workloads.

SPEAKERS

Joel West, senior technical instructor, VMware

Luciana Marchesini de Padua, data center design architect, VMware

4. Tech Preview of Site Recovery Manager with Virtual Volumes [HCI2894BU]

Since VMware's vSphere 6.0 release, admins have become more familiar with the new Virtual Volumes (VVols) feature, which provides Virtual Machine Disk granular storage entities exported by storage arrays. With the introduction of this new feature, many admins have started to wonder how VVols and VMware Site Recovery Manager can help them implement business continuance and disaster recovery in their environments. During this session, attendees can expect a preview of an upcoming Site Recovery Manager feature that will provide a way to manage VVols array-based replication and better plan the recovery and migration of applications. It will also cover particular storage vendor implementations.

SPEAKERS

Cody Hosterman, technical director, Pure Storage

Velina Krasteva, senior product manager, VMware

Stefan Tsonev, director of engineering, Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication, VMware

5. SAP HANA on vSphere, vSAN, VMware Cloud: Roadmap and Certification Strategy [BCA2740BU]

Following major staff cuts and the reconstruction of its company, many were unsure where SAP HANA would stand in the IT market. But, at this year's Sapphire Now 2019 conference, co-founder Hasso Plattner assured admins that SAP HANA was still on course. In this session, attendees can expect discussions around the long-awaited SAP HANA roadmap, as well as new capabilities that SAP HANA supports, such as persistent memory, and what that means for virtual SAP HANA on vSphere. Dominic Uliano will also cover certification strategies for VMware vSphere, VMware vSAN and VMware Cloud on AWS.

SPEAKERS

Dominic Uliano, director, Global SAP Alliance, VMware

6. Architecting VMware Cloud Roundtable [HBI2615PU]

As the cloud continues to appeal to admins across the globe, VMware's cloud partners see increased growth across all market sectors, which has strained VMware in terms of its scalability and complexity. In this roundtable discussion, VMware's principal architect will be joined by the product team, as well as cloud provider partners, to discuss VMware Cloud architecture, strategies and successful market penetration. Be sure to bring a list of your own questions because these experts are ready to provide answers and share their personal experiences working with VMware Cloud.

SPEAKERS

John White, chief innovation officer, Expedient

David Grimes, vice president of engineering, Navisite

John Dwyer, group product manager, Cloud Provider Software Business Unit, VMware

Martin Hosken, principal architect, VMware

Daniel Paluszek, staff solutions engineer, VMware

7. Troubleshooting Connectivity between AWS solutions and VMware Cloud on AWS [EDU1358U]

VMware Cloud on AWS enables admins to streamline connectivity between VMs and AWS services, but this continues to be a complex process for some. Problems with communication between VMs hosted in VMware Cloud on AWS and AWS accounts persist. In this session, attendees will hear from VMware's technical support training specialist on what components are involved in the passing of data, which AWS products are natively implemented and where communication breaks most commonly. Admins both familiar and unfamiliar with AWS and VMware Cloud on AWS are welcome because the speaker will provide attendees with a high-level overview and strategies to avoid common issues.

SPEAKERS

Harrison Sherwin, senior technical support training specialist, VMware

8. Heard about Mars v. Oracle? Explore Oracle Audits with Experts, Attorneys [BCA2290BU]

On Oct. 23, 2015, the Mars v. Oracle lawsuit took the IT world by storm as Oracle attempted to audit food giant Mars because of its use of Oracle on VMware. In this session, attendees will hear from House of Brick, a consulting service that supports more than 50 clients running VMware against aggressive maneuvers from Oracle, and attorneys from Crowell & Moring, which represented Mars in the Mars v. Oracle lawsuit. These speakers will provide attendees with details surrounding the lawsuit and strategies to prepare for an Oracle audit, such as architectural, operational and organizational recommendations.

SPEAKERS

Nathan Biggs, CEO, House of Brick

Arthur Beeman, partner, Crowell & Moring

9. Leveraging advanced features of vRealize Operations in security policies [HBO3561BU]

The Vanguard Group experienced security and compliance issues as a result of multisite replication challenges and vulnerabilities discovered through audit and security policies. But, by using some of the advanced features in vRealize Operations, The Vanguard Group was able to overcome hurdles, such as SQL replication issues, and resolve latency-sensitive VMs. In this session, attendees can expect discussions around how the company dealt with these threats and the strategies it used while relying on vRealize Operations to resolve security and multisite issues.

SPEAKERS

Dan Kahl, lead virtualization platform engineer, Vanguard

10. SD-WAN and 5G: A Two-Pronged Approach to a Strategic Network Edge [NEDG2596BU]

As needs for increased bandwidth and network connectivity surge, many telecommunication providers are integrating SD-WAN and 5G with their current services. During this session, attendees can expect topics surrounding crucial components of SD-WAN overlay and how it can work in conjunction with 5G underlays to deliver several benefits, such as cost efficiency, high performance and application-aware services at the network edge. Speakers from VMware and AT&T will discuss their close partnership and plans to enable VMware SD-WAN Edge to address the demanding needs of enterprise, retail and IoT customers.

SPEAKERS

Sanjay Uppal, vice president and general manager, VMware

Josh Goodell, vice president, Edge Solutions - AT&T Business, AT&T Business

11. Honorable mention: Technologists for Good, Through Global Mentorship [VMTN5015U]

One in every six children on the planet lives in a conflict zone. Children caught up in war lose their access to education, legal protection and personal safety and security. War Child -- a nongovernmental organization founded in the U.K. in 1993 -- provides education programs for children in areas experiencing conflict. It offers children safe spaces and trains parents and young people to not only help restore their ability to provide for themselves, but also to regain a sense of security. In this session, attendees can expect discussion on how remote virtual mentorship can help those in need.

SPEAKERS

Yadin Porter de León, lead advocate, Tech Level Up Project