At ITQ, we believe sharing knowledge is more important than hoarding it; it’s part of the DNA of every ITQ employee. We share our knowledge through (personal) blogs, videos and by presenting at events like the VMware User Groups (VMUGs), Cloud Foundry Summit and VMworld.
The number of vExperts belonging to the ITQ team reflects our drive to share knowledge with the different communities. Since mid-2018, ITQ employs 20 vExperts in total, which makes us very proud. Sharing knowledge comes in different shapes and sizes and is a joint effort: people are willing to invest their time to share knowledge and we want to accommodate this. Let me give you an example:
Just over 4 years ago, Johan van Amersfoort joined our team. A beardless guy who had a passion for VMware technology, and specifically End-User Computing. Like every other ITQ team member, he had a drive to always get the most out of every situation and was constantly pushing limits. As the first in the Benelux region, he managed to become a VMware Certified Design Expert in the field of Desktop and Mobility (VCDX-DTM, the highest VMware certification in this area). This is no small feat: It can take over a year before someone may defend a design in front of a panel of existing VCDX’s. Managing his regular projects along with his VCDX-preparations was quite a challenge, but he managed to achieve his goal. However, it left him with no time to shave anymore, resulting in the bearded guy he is today 😉
A common thing with people achieving the VCDX certification is to give back to the community. Like Johan, many choose to become a mentor to challenge newbie VCDX candidates to think like a VCDX and they will act like a panelist in so-called ‘mock defenses’. Other ITQ colleagues, like Marco van Baggum, Jeffrey Kusters, and Erik Verbruggen successfully mentored students and help grow the VCDX community. At ITQ we stimulate this cooperation and provide training hours for this.
As for Johan, to help the VCDX-DTM community a bit more, he decided to take an extra mile. Since early August, he released a book called the VDI Design Guide; a comprehensive guide to help you design VMware Horizon VDI solutions based on the VCDX methodology. This is something that we as ITQ are very, very proud of. The book will guide the reader through the whole design process and contains modern topics like Windows 10, Hyper-Converged Infrastructures, NSX, Graphical Acceleration, and Security.
I had the pleasure of receiving one of the first copies of the VDI Design Guide. While reading, you can notice his passion for VDI and experience in this field. I’m proud that the knowledge and experience he gained while working at ITQ are a big part of the book. From that perspective, I’m very curious what the next couple of years will have in store, and how people will share knowledge in different ways 😊
