VMware Certifications Simplified: New Tracks, Lower Costs, Bigger Impact

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Nick Kuhn from VMware Tanzu during VMware Explore 2025. Nick—who also hosts Cloud Foundry Weekly—breaks down what Tanzu is today following VMware’s recent organizational changes under Broadcom.   He explains how Kubernetes components (now called VMware Kubernetes Service, or VKS) have shifted to the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) division, while Tanzu now focuses on Platform as a Service (PaaS) technologies originating from Pivotal Software. Nick highlights how Tanzu Platform complements VCF by giving developers a simplified experience: just push code and let the platform handle infrastructure complexity.   The conversation also covers: How Tanzu integrates with VCF components like NSX and Avi Load Balancer New announcements including Tanzu Platform 10.3 and VMware Tanzu Data Intelligence (a Snowflake/Databricks-like solution for VCF environments) Nick’s personal Koon Labs setup, which showcases Tanzu in action   Whether you’re in IT operations, development, or exploring cloud-native strategies, this episode gives clarity on how Tanzu and VCF work hand-in-hand to deliver modern application platforms.   🔔 Subscribe to Virtually Speaking for more VMware Cloud Foundation insights, expert interviews, and event coverage.

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Jad El-Zein, technologist at Broadcom, live from VMware Explore 2025.   Jad, who recently returned to the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) team after his time with the Tanzu Business Unit, shares his perspective on application modernization and how VCF 9.0 delivers a complete private cloud platform for today’s workloads. He explains why “modern apps” shouldn’t be limited to just Kubernetes or containers, but should include any application that drives business value—including VMs.   The conversation covers: VMware’s journey in the Kubernetes space since 2015, strengthened by the Heptio acquisition in 2018 The rise of hybrid runtimes, where VMs and containers coexist seamlessly How Tanzu Mission Control integrates into VCF automation for multi-cluster management The role of infrastructure services in delivering application resilience Advice for IT leaders on approaching app modernization, including treating Kubernetes as part of the infrastructure stack   If you’re navigating your organization’s modernization journey, this episode offers practical insights on how VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 supports both traditional and modern workloads—helping IT teams build a future-ready private cloud.  

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast from VMware Explore 2025, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with vSAN expert Pete Koehler to dig into the latest advancements in vSAN technology.   The conversation explores how vSAN design and operations have evolved, with networking now taking center stage over disk configurations as the platform moves fully to all-NVMe and ESA architecture. Pete Koehler shares insights on how VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) operations integrate with vSAN, highlighting the benefits of Broadcom’s unified product strategy under Hock Tan’s directive.   Key topics include: The surge in vSAN ESA adoption and how it’s meeting expectations Global deduplication at the cluster level for greater storage efficiency A tech preview of native S3 object storage built directly into vSAN   Whether you’re a VI admin, architect, or just curious about where VMware’s storage strategy is heading, this episode delivers valuable perspectives straight from the expert.  

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson talk with Drew Nielsen from Broadcom about the major changes to VMware’s certification program following the Broadcom acquisition.   Drew breaks down how VMware has streamlined certifications from five tracks into three clear, role-specific paths for: 🔹 Implementers & Admins 🔹 Architects 🔹 Support Professionals   Key updates include: ✔️ Standardized exam pricing at $250 ✔️ No required training before taking exams ✔️ Alignment of internal and customer training content for consistency   John also shares his past frustrations with the certification process—especially the high cost barrier for early-career professionals—and how this new model helps democratize access to VMware certifications.   The conversation highlights how the new program keeps content current with product releases, and Drew announces the launch of five new VCP exams at VMware Explore 2025, focused on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF). With over 500 registrations at the event—five times higher than last year—the excitement is clear.   👉 Tune in to learn how VMware certifications are evolving to be more accessible, relevant, and impactful.   #VMwareExplore #VCF #VMwareCertification #Broadcom #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast  

In this VMware Explore 2025 edition of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson talk with Raj Reddi from the United States Senate Federal Credit Union (USSFCU) and Alexis Colon, Sr. Solutions Architect at Broadcom.   Raj shares how USSFCU—serving a sensitive membership that includes Senate and Supreme Court communities—successfully upgraded from VCF 5.2 to VCF 9 with minimal downtime, despite having a lean IT team of just 22 people.   Key highlights include: 🔹 How Private AI is being leveraged for advanced fraud detection and member protection 🔹 The role of careful planning and strong partnerships in executing a smooth upgrade 🔹 Why the unified nature of VCF 9 eliminates siloed infrastructure and accelerates innovation 🔹 Lessons learned from aligning technical design with business initiatives   This conversation is proof that with the right approach and trusted partners, even small IT teams can deliver enterprise-grade innovation and resilience.   👉 Watch the full episode to hear how USSFCU modernized with VMware Cloud Foundation 9.   #VMwareExplore #VCF #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast #PrivateAI #FraudDetection #Broadcom #FinancialServices  

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, recorded at VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Vijay Ramachandran, VP of Products for Core Infrastructure at Broadcom.   Vijay shares the latest innovations in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) that are reshaping core infrastructure: 🔹 Memory Tiering – a technical feature that’s seeing surprisingly high customer engagement 🔹 vSAN Global Deduplication – cluster-wide dedupe for better efficiency and cost savings 🔹 Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) – simplifying network configuration and bringing cloud-like networking to VCF   The discussion also dives into new security and resilience capabilities, including: ✔️ Confidential Compute ✔️ Hypervisor-level EDR integration ✔️ Ransomware recovery for on-prem environments   Vijay also announces a tech preview for object storage, addressing a long-standing customer request with a built-in solution.   Looking ahead, he shares the future direction of VCF—expanding security, advancing data protection, and extending enterprise-grade VM features into the Kubernetes ecosystem to power modern apps.   👉 Don’t miss this deep dive into the future of VMware Cloud Foundation!   #VMwareExplore #VMwareCloudFoundation #VCF #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast #PrivateCloud #Broadcom  

At VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Himanshu Singh to unpack one of the biggest announcements: Private AI is now natively built into VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF 9.0).   With this shift, customers no longer need an add-on service—all Private AI capabilities are included as part of VCF entitlement, making AI more accessible and integrated than ever.   Key highlights from the conversation: 🔹 AI-Native VCF – Private AI becomes part of the core platform for every customer. 🔹 GPU Advancements – Support for NVIDIA Blackwell B200 and RTX Pro 6000, plus new AMD Instinct MI350 series GPUs. 🔹 Networking Improvements – Enhanced Direct Path IO for NVIDIA ConnectX-7 and BlueField-3. 🔹 Data Privacy & Sovereignty – Built-in security and virtualization efficiency to run AI with confidence.   Himanshu explains how these innovations bring together modern infrastructure, advanced accelerators, and trusted security to help organizations adopt AI while maintaining full control over their data.   👉 Subscribe to the Virtually Speaking Podcast for more VMware Explore 2025 coverage and insights into the future of private cloud and AI.  

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, recorded at VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Michael Miller, IT Systems Architect at Mary Washington Healthcare.   Mike shares his inspiring career journey from working the midnight help desk shift to leading IT architecture at a healthcare organization where uptime isn’t just about business continuity—it’s about saving lives.   He walks through Mary Washington Healthcare’s modernization journey: 🔹 Transitioning from legacy infrastructure to hyperconverged VxRail 🔹 Implementing VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) for automation and consistency 🔹 Leveraging automation for certificate updates and password rotations, reducing human error 🔹 Gaining real-time visibility through metrics to optimize system performance   The discussion highlights the critical role of IT in healthcare, the importance of professional implementation, and how automation and modernization with VCF directly improve system reliability—and ultimately, patient care.   👉 Don’t miss this story of IT transformation where technology and healthcare intersect.  

At VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Himanshu Singh to discuss the expanded partnership between VMware and Canonical—bringing together the world’s #1 private cloud and the #1 cloud OS.   Himanshu explains how Ubuntu OS with Canonical’s 10-year enterprise support is now bundled as part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) entitlement, simplifying operations for enterprise customers. A key highlight is the introduction of “chisel containers”—lightweight Ubuntu images optimized for specific workloads. These minimal containers reduce image size from ~200MB to ~50MB, improving efficiency and dramatically lowering vulnerabilities (their demo dropped CVEs from 16 to just 1).   The conversation also explores how the partnership addresses air-gapped environments by delivering pre-compiled virtualized GPU drivers, enabling faster, more secure AI deployments.   Whether you’re running Kubernetes, modern applications, or AI workloads, this partnership delivers a more secure, efficient, and enterprise-ready private cloud platform.   👉 Subscribe to the Virtually Speaking Podcast for more VMware Explore 2025 coverage!  

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast recorded at VMware Explore 2025, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Jon Rosenson, President & COO at Expedient, to explore how Expedient is delivering VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a Service.   Expedient, a full-stack cloud services provider with over 25 years of experience and a VMware partner since 2008, helps clients simplify IT by managing VCF on their behalf. Jon explains how Expedient delivers: ☁️ Multi-tenant and dedicated private cloud environments powered by VCF ⚙️ End-to-end infrastructure and expertise so clients only need to subscribe 🏥 Real-world use cases in healthcare and other industries, where organizations rely on Expedient to handle IT infrastructure so they can focus on core business 🔄 Hybrid IT solutions that bridge public cloud and private cloud, including client data center acquisitions converted into multi-tenant facilities   The conversation also highlights how the Expedient–VMware by Broadcom partnership is evolving, with program changes opening the door for more customers to benefit from VCF as a Service.   👉 Watch now to learn how Expedient is helping customers rethink their cloud strategies with VMware Cloud Foundation.   #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast #VMwareExplore #VCF #CloudServices #HybridCloud #Expedient