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

SolarWinds:  SolarWinds is a Silver Sponsor at VMworld 2019. Head GeeksTM Leon Adato and Thomas LaRock will be available for product demos and conversations at booth #1511, in addition to other SolarWinds® technical and product experts (20-plus individuals in a 20x20 booth).

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

SolarWinds:  The SolarWinds theme this year is "All Systems. Go." Head Geeks and other technical experts will demonstrate how the SolarWinds IT operations management portfolio can help centrally monitor and manage applications and infrastructure across modern, multi-cloud, and multi-premises architectures through an integrated, single pane of glass.

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

SolarWinds:  Our business is built around helping technology professionals solve today's IT challenges. Our relationship and engagement with our customers give us the insight and understanding we rely on to deliver products designed to solve IT management problems, the way technology professionals want them to be solved. We foster this relationship through our daily engagement on THWACK®, our online community of over 150,000 registered members.

THWACK enables customers to directly participate in our product development process; we're constantly engaging with our customers through the THWACK community and via interactions such as training and onboarding, so we understand first-hand the needs of our customers.

We connect our customers with the teams who manage and develop our products; our customers have a say in the direction of our products and receive support and answers in real time without needing to speak to a support team. This customer-driven philosophy has been a core part of our offerings since day one. In fact, our recent SolarWinds Pingdom® update was inspired by end-user feedback.

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

SolarWinds:  SolarWinds recently announced enhancements to its web performance monitoring products, including updates to WPM and Pingdom solutions. At VMworld, attendees will have an opportunity to demo these new solutions alongside SolarWinds Head Geeks and others who can share expert insight on web performance monitoring and demonstrate how SolarWinds' full IT operations management portfolio can help monitor and manage apps and infrastructure across all types of tech environments.

We'll also be giving away SolarWinds swag and merchandise to booth visitors! And for any current members of the THWACK community or those interested in learning more, we'd love to catch up. These events are a great opportunity for face time with the community, which we're always looking to expand and grow since it's so key to how we deliver new products to our tech pros.

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?

SolarWinds:  At VMworld, SolarWinds will be displaying the upgrades to WPM 3.0 and Pingdom. Be sure to stop by the booth for a demo! You'll get to see first-hand the product enhancements listed below.

Key updates to web performance monitor (WPM 3.0) include:

• An improved synthetic user monitoring solution that streamlines troubleshooting to quickly mitigate issues hindering the user experience of modern applications.
• The ability to monitor the performance of websites and web-based applications from inside the firewall, helping ensure employees can gain access to the applications they need.
• Improvements to the integrated view of website and web-based applications performance monitoring-making troubleshooting significantly faster via a single pane of glass.
• Comprehensive monitoring of critical Microsoft® application services also expands the breadth and depth of WPM's capabilities. With WPM, users receive insight and visibility into application performance and health for supported Microsoft technologies.

Key updates to Pingdom include:

• Transaction check sleep - Some transactions take more time between steps. Pingdom added the capability to include a timed pause or "sleep" in a transaction before it checks to see if that step executed correctly, thus reducing the potential of a false failed test of a transaction step.
• Contextual and actionable alerts - Users have requested the capability to leave a message within an alert for the next team member on call. Now they can leave a custom message with instructions or additional information to further streamline troubleshooting.
• Flexible maintenance windows - Users have asked for the option to bulk-select maintenance windows to avoid running checks during designated times. For example, now users can identify a weekly maintenance window so checks don't run while they're applying security patches on Microsoft Patch Tuesday.

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

SolarWinds:  "One thing I look forward to every year is the VMware vExpert reception where Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware, gives his time to answer direct questions. I'm also looking forward to the keynotes, as well as the conversations we have with new and existing customers inside the SolarWinds booth." - Thomas LaRock, Head Geek, SolarWinds (and VMware vExpert)

VMblog:  You've sponsored VMworld for many years now.  How many times has it been?  And what keeps you coming back? 

SolarWinds:  SolarWinds has been a VMworld sponsor for more than five years. We're always impressed with the attendees and value the time we spend with them on the show floor-it's what keeps us coming back each year.

VMblog:  Do you remember your first VMworld event?  What can you tell us about it?  What memories stand out? 

SolarWinds:  "Yes. It was 2015, also in San Francisco, and I was honored to be selected to deliver two sessions, one with Rawlinson Rivera, AKA Captain vSAN. As someone with decades of experience running events, I was impressed with how VMworld was laid out and made room for community in spaces like the VM Village." - Thomas LaRock, Head Geek, SolarWinds (and VMware vExpert)

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

SolarWinds:  "Hydrate. Power up at every chance. Be a sponge-soak up everything you can. Take the time to network; some of the best conversations happen outside the session room. Attend an Ask the Experts session, because they're great ways to provide feedback to the product teams at VMware." - Thomas LaRock, Head Geek, SolarWinds (and VMware vExpert)

VMblog:  Lastly, attendees always enjoy a good trade show tchotchke.  And SolarWinds is pretty famous for cool giveaways.  Are you guys giving away anything special or interesting this year?

SolarWinds:  VMworld attendees are always excited about SolarWinds T-shirts! We'll have those at the booth as well as "techie" buttons and stickers the tech pros always enjoy wearing. Plus, you never know what else may show up during the week!