Undoubtedly one of the most popular “features” of VMworld 2010, both in the US and in EU, are the labs. These hands-on exercises in configuring and using various VMware products lets you play around without the need for lab equipment or licenses installed locally.
Let us get our hands dirty all year round! It’s hard to have a full lab setup in the office, and if we could book time in the VMware Cloud Lane to play around with VMware vCloud™, VMware vCenter™ Site Recovery Manager or even VMware ThinApp™ that would be great!
I’m sure VMware can see the value in providing their customers and partners with hands-on labs for training purposes, as well as being a great showcase for their core “cloud” services as enterprise ready.
While I’m not suggesting they give everyone and their mother lab access 24/7/365, VMware should indeed offer a way for customers and partners to book time and play around. After all, VMware want us to buy their products and their vision for the cloud, don’t they?