VMUG – Get Involved!!

VMUG Website:  www.vmug.com

Most people involved in virtualisation and especially VMware already know about the VMware User Group (VMUG) but for anyone else I would encourage you all to get involved.

VMUG was started in 2010 as an independent, global, customer-led organization, created to maximize members’ use of VMware and partner solutions.  This is done mainly by members sharing knowledge through presentations, training, collaboration, and VMUG events.  The best thing of all is that VMUG is FREE!! (there is an upgraded version and more information is provided later in this blog).

As it happens, this post is actually being written whilst at the National UK VMUG UserCon in Birmingham, UK.  This event is actually the largest VMUG event held each year in the UK but there are many VMUG chapters around the UK and globally, each of which hold similar events throughout the course of the year.  At the event this year, we were lucky enough to have Joe Baguley (Office of the CTO) provide the opening keynote to start the day – in his usual, inspiring way.  The closing keynote is provided by John Troyer entitled ‘Architecting Your IT Career:  Technologies and Strategies to Get You to the New IT’.

At the event there are a number of breakout sessions, but unlike other events these are based more around real life scenarios rather than heavily focused on vendors trying to sell.  For those who wish to tackle the vendors, there are a number available along with a large selection of swag.

These are very useful days and allow you to talk directly with people who have implemented the solutions or are experts in their particular areas.  There is a lot of support from VMware but the overall running of the program is independent.

Included in the Free membership is 35% off VMware Press printed titles or 45% off VMware Press ebooks and video training, plus 15% discount on Global Knowledge Training and access to the Global Knowledge White Papers for free.

Although becoming a member of VMUG is free and provides a lot for a free program, there is also VMUG Advantage which I like to compare to the now defunct Technet from Microsoft.  For $200 per year, you receive the following additional benefits:

• 365-day evaluation licenses to explore VMware technology using EVALExperience
• Service Credit towards vCloud Air OnDemand
• $100 off VMworld registration which can be used with other discounts as well
• 20% discount on VMware Exams (except delta exams)
• 20% discount on all VMware Training Classes
• 50% discount on software licenses for:
  VMware Fusion 8 Pro
  VMware Workstation 12 Pro
  VMware Workstation 12 Player

As either a free member or an Advantage member there is also VMUG Engage which allows you to earn badges depending on how active you are with VMUG…

So really the only thing left to say is… if you aren’t already involved, get involved!!

Head over to:  www.vmug.com

Please note that all information contained in this post is valid at the time of publishing and may be subject to change.