VMblog:  As a VMworld 2019 sponsor, how can people find you this year?  

Greg Newman:  We are a Silver sponsor at VMworld US in 2019. We will have a 20x20 booth at #351. We will have over a dozen people at the show, including senior technical team members who will be available to discuss our more advanced solutions.

VMblog:  Is there anything unique about this year's booth setup?  Do you have a theme? 

Newman:  Our booth this year is brand new. The design draws inspiration from our partnership with Veeam and features simple, bold messaging that we hope helps people understand the unique advantages of Zadara as an enterprise storage-as-a-service provider. 

VMblog:  Can you give readers a few reasons why your product or service is considered unique? 

Newman:  Unique is a big claim, but we can make a claim to be unique in at least a few respects. First, we are the only storage company that offers the control of enterprise data center with the agility of the cloud model. Other companies lock customers into long-term agreements or lock up their data. Second, and perhaps more importantly, we are the only company that is built from the ground up as a service. Sure, we have some great (and patented) storage virtualization technology that allows for multi-tenant efficiency in a totally isolated storage environment - but it is our ‘as a service' business model that really distinguishes us. We figured out early on (we launched in 2011) that people buy storage services for the service, not just the storage, so we made our services offering second to none! Our 99.995% uptime since our inception, managing thousands of virtual private storage arrays in hundreds of data centers worldwide, is a direct reflection of our proactive approach. We have a 24/7 customer service by an expert DevOps team (the real deal, not junior-grade staffers) that makes sure we monitor and manage your storage as if it were our storage (which it is).

VMblog:  Why should a VMworld attendee add you to their MUST SEE list?

Newman:  We like to say, the closer you look at Zadara the better we appear! Come to our booth to find out for yourself how Zadara can simplify your storage. We will be hosting short presentations every half-hour. And while you're there be sure to enroll in our Oculus Quest giveaway. 

VMblog:  Can you give VMblog readers a sneak peek as to what you will be showing off at your booth this year?  What should attendees expect to see and hear at your booth?

Newman:  We will have some pretty cool announcements at the show. I can't spill all the details but we will be talking about our partnerships with VMware, Veeam, and others. And we will be introducing solutions around NVMe-oF, streamlined multi-tier backup, and more. 

VMblog:  How does your company and product fit within the VMware ecosystem?

Newman:  We complement VMware by providing advanced storage options that allow VMware users to streamline operations. We work best in hybrid environments where data resides in multiple locations, including on premises, at private data centers, and in public clouds. Zadara can be a single-source storage provider that allows for seamless data flow, total security, and reduced costs.

VMblog:  What are you looking forward to most at VMworld this year?

Newman:  We are really curious to hear more about hybrid computing and how people are actually building out their environments to meet the needs of their users - all of whom seem to want their data to be totally secure yet totally available! Like a lot of folks in this industry we have been watching this wave build and we believe this is the year hybrid becomes real. 

VMblog:  Is this your first VMworld event as a sponsor?  If not, how many times have you sponsored before?  And what keeps you coming back?

Newman:  We are a longtime sponsor of VMworld. As a storage virtualization company and an services company that helps customers streamline operations we are a natural fit for the VMware ecosystem. 

VMblog:  What would you say to prospective attendees who are thinking about attending VMworld but aren't sure if it's worth it or not?

Newman:  If you are part of the VMware world this show is a don't-miss! It has the feel of a big industry conclave but the focus of a much smaller show. Great information and good vibe.

VMblog:  What do you think we need to do collectively as an ecosystem to strengthen the industry?

Newman:  We need to stay focused on strategic business issues, rather than allowing ourselves to get buffeted by the latest technology craze.

VMblog:  What do you hope to come away with from exhibiting at VMworld?

Newman:  Leads, lots of leads!

VMblog:  Do you have any tips for first time attendees of VMworld that you'd like to share?

Newman:  The show is great but be sure to also get out and see San Francisco. It's one of the world's great cities.

VMblog:  Attendees always enjoy a good trade show tchotchke.  Are you guys giving away anything special or interesting this year?

Newman:  We are giving away an Amazon gift card at the end of our presentation each half-hour. We are also giving away an Oculus Quest at the end of each day.

VMblog:  Does your company have any speaking sessions during the show?  If so, can you give us the who, what, when and where?

Newman:  We are speaking at the Solutions Exchange theater Tuesday Aug 27 at 11:50am. Our Worldwide Vice President of Solutions Architects Noam Shendar will be talking about how to take advantage of some serious advantages (and cost savings) by using Zadara, VMware and Veeam together. 

VMblog:  Finally, is your company throwing or involved with any type of party during the week of the event? 

Newman:  We will be participating in the hall crawl on Tuesday afternoon. Come by the booth for drinks and food!