I am hosting a webinar for Global Knowledge next week, vSphere 5: Training and Certification, where I will be presenting on the latest VMware training curriculum and vSphere certifications. The webinar starts at 4pm UK time on Wednesday August 10th, and you can register here.
Many of you will have seen the blog posts that I published at the time of the vSphere 5 announcement, during the webinar I will be discussing the content of those posts. The presentation should last no more than 45 minutes, with 15 minutes allocated to Q&A - but the session will go on til there's no more questions being fired at me!
We are publicising this webinar right across the EMEA region, but anyone with an interest in this topic is welcome to join the session.
UPDATE (August 30th) : Thanks to all those who joined the session live, for those that couldn't make it here's the link to the recording.
Global Knowledge has been awarded access to funding that enables organizations based in Yorkshire and Humber to attend courses such as vSphere: Install Configure Manage at up to 75% discount from the list price!
We run our VMware courses at locations all over the UK, including our newest training centre in Leeds, the funding is only available for a limited time, for further information please call Rich Thomas on 0113 234 4747.
If the funding available doesn't apply to you or your organization, we still have some fantastic discounted bundles available:
http://www.globalknowledge.co.uk/whats%20new/special%20offers/vmware%20bundles.aspx
Global Knowledge has now started offering official AppSense training worldwide, and is the ONLY training provider in the UK that can offer both the Professional and Specialist courses.
http://www.globalknowledge.co.uk/appsense
AppSense is the leading provider of user virtualisation solutions for the enterprise, with over ten years proven track record in the virtualisation space. They make physical and virtual deployment possible by ensuring a seamless user experience across all delivery platforms. Much more than traditional profile management, user virtualisation represents a fundamental change in the way the corporate desktop is constructed, delivered and managed - encompassing the whole user-centric aspect of the desktop, including personal settings, user-centric corporate policy, as well as user applications and data.
Whilst this blog is owned by me, created by me, and administered by me, it would be pretty difficult not to know that I work for Global Knowledge UK. The company has now launched it's own "corporate" blog - there are contributions being made from all corners of the business, so you should expect to see contributions from me at some point too!
Here's a copy of the announcement:
Global Knowledge are proud to announce the launch of our UK blog - http://blog.globalknowledge.co.uk
Your source for IT Professional Management Learning
The blog will feature latest industry developments, articles from leading industry experts, 'How To' technical guides, interviews plus much more.
The blog will focus on technical and best practice news covering Cisco, VMware, Microsoft, ITIL and Service Management, and a number of articles on general Learning and Technology news.
The blog has an open comment forum if you wish to contribute towards an article. We would also like to hear from you, if you have any questions or would like a blog post on an industry hot topic or subject area.
I'm hugely proud to be able to confirm that Global Knowledge UK have been awarded the title of Education Partner of the Year for the entire EMEA region! Here's the full list of winners: VMware EMEA Partner Network Award Winners
I joined the company back at the start of 2009, on the same day that we became a VMware Authorized Training Center (VATC) in the UK, and one of the key reasons I chose to work here was that the company were really serious about becoming a significant player in the UK market.
Since then we have seen incredible growth, outperforming the market quarter after quarter, increasing our market share as we go, and have really established ourselves during challenging times in the global economy. I started this blog and all my other online activities as part of my goal to help us grow, and that has been hugely successful both on a personal level and for the company.
I was the only VMware Certified Instructor (VCI) at the start, and I now head up a team of 5 VCIs who have an incredibly broad skill set that covers Cisco, Citrix and Microsoft technology areas in addition to VMware. We also have a talented Business Development Director who manages our relationship with VMware, and drives activities within the business to help our growth, so achieving this award really is a team effort!
We've also gone above and beyond in terms of the content we deliver as a VATC, the VMware Xtra portal that we launched in 2010 attracted interest and praise from those in the VMware Education team worldwide, as well as at a corporate level throughout Global Knowledge. Moving forward, we will continue to innovate and deliver additional value to all our customers, we want to deliver the best overall learning experience we can.
I'm also able to confirm that Global Knowledge USA have won the equivalent award for the Americas region! Here's the global winners list: VMware Partner Network Global Awards
The amazing part is that VMware only split the world into three regions, and Global Knowledge now hold this award for two out of the three regions - an amazing achievement! I've thoroughlly enjoyed the last two years with the company, 2010 was a great year for us, bring on 2011!
I blogged a little while ago about Global Knowledge starting to offer the vSphere: Install Configure Manage course as an instructor-led, online event - ironically for training on VMware products we describe this as "virtual learning".
We've now broadened our schedule to include a wider set of VMware courses, as well as a selection of Cisco, ITIL and Prince2 courses - you can find the latest schedule here.
We also have a special promotion running on all virtual learning events - Buy 1 Get 1 Free - more details can be found on the schedule page at the link above.
Everybody knows that the must-have gadget of 2010 is the amazing Apple iPad - I've been an iPod Touch user for about a year now, and I'd absolutely love an iPad - almost every competition in the Solutions Exchange at VMworld Europe had an iPad as a prize!
Would you like an iPad too? How's about if it was free? Interested?
Global Knowledge UK are running a promotion that allows you to get yourself a free iPad in time for Christmas! Think of the possibilities:
- Sell it on ebay and keep the money
- Swap it for Take That tickets
- Give it to a loved one to show you care
- Or, best of all, keep it all for yourself!
There are some T's & C's associated with the promotion, take a look at this Global Knowledge iPad Promotion page to find out more.
Following on from VMworld Europe 2010, the vendor/partner circus comes back to London for IP Expo 2010, the event runs on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st October, and Global Knowledge will be there...
Global Knowledge will be at booth 947 in the VMware Partner Zone, and are offering all attendees an exclusive discount on training courses and exams across multiple vendors (VMware, Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix) - pop by the stand, say "hi" to my colleagues and collect your discount flyer!
I wish I could be there myself, it was a great event last year - my "day job" prevents me from attending this year.
Just in case I haven't mentioned it before, I work for Global Knowledge in the UK as their Lead Instructor for VMware ;-)
We already have a number of training centres around the UK, and have now launched a training schedule for various vendors (including VMware of course) with a partner in Bristol.
Follow these links to our schedule for Bristol, as well as a location map and directions.
We currently have two dates for the vSphere: Install Configure Manage course:
- November 8th-12th 2010
- February 21st-25th 2011
Have you done one of the following foundation-level vSphere courses, or have equivalent skills and knowledge?
What's New
Install Configure Manage
Fast Track
Whilst the above course teach you a huge amount about vSphere and the various infrastructure elements that it integrates with, those courses only scratch the surface of numerous topics and often leave those who attend the courses wanting more...
There are now a number of advanced-level courses available, designed to follow-on from the courses above and help people get much more in-depth skills and knowledge in certain key areas.
vSphere: Manage for Performance - read more about it here
vSphere: Troubleshooting
vSphere: Design Workshop
vSphere: Manage and Design for Security (coming soon)
vSphere: Automation (coming soon)
The advanced-level courses will also help you prepare for the new VCAP certifications too. Global Knowledge UK offer the full range of official vSphere course, delivered around the UK. Feel free to get in touch if you want to know more about any VMware training course, or certification program.
As you probably know by now, I work for Global Knowledge in the UK as their Lead Instructor for VMware, Global Knowledge are a VMware Authorized Training Center (VATC) in many countries around Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as in North America.
VATCs are VMware training partners, they are appointed by VMware on a country-by-country basis to offer VMware-certified training programs. The VATC model was first launched in Europe and has now spread to every continent worldwide, VMware manage the VATCs in each country to make sure we are delivering training to the high standards they demand.
As a VATC, we run the official courses developed internally by VMware themselves, using equipment that has to conform to certain standards, and courses run by VATCs are delivered by VMware Certified Instructors (VCIs) such as myself - all VCIs must meet a minimum standard of technical and delivery capabilities as defined by VMware.
In the EMEA region, Global Knowledge have VATC status in 11 countries. Here they are, along with links that go to their respective landing pages for VMware training:
Spain = Formación VMware
France = Formation VMware
Germany = VMware Schulung
Belgium = VMware Training
Netherlands = VMware Training
Denmark = VMware Træning
Norway = VMware opplæring
United Kingdom = VMware Training
Egypt = VMware Training
United Arab Emirates = VMware Training
Saudi Arabia = VMware Training
Global Knowledge also have VATC status in North America, in both the US and Canada:
United States = VMware Training
Canada = VMware Training
In a previous blog post I told the story of VMware Xtra, a value-added project I've been working on for Global Knowledge UK, two other well-known UK-based bloggers have also now posted a review of the principle behind VMware Xtra and some of the content.
Tom Howarth posted his review recently on his excellent PlanetVM blog - here's the post.
Simon Long has also just added a review to The Slog - here's his post.
I also confirmed in the webinar last week that we are rolling out our Xtra program across other vendors, my colleagues are currently working on Cisco CCNA Xtra, and in development we also have Xtra content for Prince2, ITIL, and some key Microsoft technologies... they will all be added to the Global Knowledge UK site as and when they are ready.
I will also be adding lots of content to VMware Xtra over the summer, enhancing the current material and making Xtra an even fuller end-to-end learning experience.
I'm just putting the finishing touches to my latest webinar for Global Knowledge UK, this time the topics covered will be our VMware Xtra "value-added training" offering, and also the latest information on the new advanced-level vSphere training and certifications.
The webinar starts at 11:00am BST (GMT+1) on Friday 14th May, and will be a 45-minute session followed by Q&A. To register follow this link.
During the webinar I will be giving an insight into our VMware Xtra program, a project I have been heavily involved in over the last couple of months, I'll talk about what VMware Xtra is today, where it came from, and also about our plans for the future in that area.
I'm also going to be discussing the imminent launch of the new advanced-level certifications for vSphere 4, and giving an outline of how some of the official higher-level training courses that we offer will help you to prepare to achieve these new certifications.
Update - May 14th
Well the webinar took place today, thanks to all those who joined me for the session. VMware did allow me to say a couple of additional things about their plans for the new vSphere certifications:
1. The official announcement on the three new certifications will be in the next two weeks, before the end of May.
2. The new exams for the new certifications will be lab-based with simulations.
3. The new exams will draw on content from all the advanced-level vSphere courses - as such the topics in the exams will cover Security, Automation, Troubleshooting and Performance.
As some of the regular readers may know, one of the additional things I do for Global Knowledge UK is record videos for their YouTube Tuesday series, and I've recorded many different VMware-related videos over the last year or so.
Global Knowledge UK have their own channel on YouTube, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/gkunitedkingdom
The most recent batch of videos I recorded are here:
- Desktop virtualization
- Virtualisation of server-based applications
- vSphere: Troubleshooting course overview
- vSphere: Manage for Performance course overview
I did another series a videos last year about vSphere, you'll find a list of those on this blog post: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2009/12/vmware-vsphere-clips-for-global.html
We will also be running some webinar sessions in the coming weeks which I will be presenting, and no doubt I'll be recording more videos for YouTube too!
Over the last few weeks I've been heavily involved in a project for Global Knowledge UK, and today I'm proud to be able to announce the launch of VMware Xtra, a unique collection of value-add online resources designed to enhance the end-to-end learning experience for anyone wishing to increase their knowledge around key VMware products such as vSphere 4.
http://www.globalknowledge.co.uk/vmwarextra
There are resources for those who are still deciding which is the right VMware course for them or their employees, resources aimed at those who have booked on one of our courses and want to prepare themselves in advance for their course, and resources for those who have attended a course and want to take their learning further.
We believe that attending a VMware training course with Global Knowledge UK should simply be the middle part of a complete learning experience. The resources we have made available today are unique, and designed to maximize the value of attending a Global Knowledge UK VMware course. You will only receive such a complete learning experience by booking your VMware training with us!
This is just the start of our "value-added" journey too, we will be adding lots more additional material for the variety of VMware courses we offer in the coming weeks. We have lots of ideas for the extra material we would like to add, based on internal discussions as well as feedback from our customers, if there's anything else you'd like to see please feel free to email me.
I'm really excited to have been so heavily involved in a project like this, and know that the time and effort we have invested in the Xtra program so far will make a real difference to our customers.
Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat 9 or Acrobat Reader 9 installed to view some of the content at VMware Xtra.
I've been rather quiet on the blogging/tweeting front lately, my work schedule has been fairly crazy recently, so I haven't had a lot of time to devote to much on the social networking side...
This is going to change, and it might just change from next week onwards...
I can't say too much until next week, when all will be revealed...
There's an awful lot of time, money, and effort goes into building and running a VMware training lab, and this article is going to give you an insight into how we do things at Global Knowledge.
All VMware Authorized Training Centers (VATCs) like Global Knowledge have the option of either renting training kits/racks/equipment from VMware (known as the VMWare VDC), or using their own training kit. A lot of smaller VATCs, and VMware themselves use the VMware VDC, but at Global Knowledge we see real benefits in hosting and running our own equipment. It gives us ownership coupled with responsbility for providing equipment capable of running the labs used across all courses, and due to the volume of VMware training we do, it gives a more cost-effective way of doing things.
Running your own labs is a complex challenge - VMware dictate a minimum set of equipment and specification for any VATC using their own kit, we have to host it, provide connectivity, build it for any particular course that we might be running, and maintain and support it when things don't quite go to plan. As well as being better for a larger VATC financially, it also gives that VATC the opportunity to build out a lab that exceeds the required specification, and also to provide all the associated documentation for both instructors and most importantly of all, our delegates - they are our customers after all, and the hands-on element of any course is very important.
The actual equipment used depends on which particular course is being run, we have a flexible configuration that enables us to be able to run any official VMware course on any of our lab kits. The graphic below shows the equipment that we use at Global Knowledge when running a vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage course:
I was directly responsible for designing and running the training labs at my previous employer, another UK VATC, and always received excellent comments from both external instructors and course delegates about the very high quality of our labs. I perform a similar role for Global Knowledge - although we have a dedicated lab team I am heavily involved in the design of the labs, and producing the all-important supporting documentation. We pride ourselves at Global Knowledge on having equipment which is above the required specification, is reliable, has the backing of a lab support team, and our supporting documentation is second to none in the UK market.
