Businesses constantly seek to optimize their infrastructure, improve operational efficiency, and ensure business continuity. Knowing this, virtualization has emerged as a powerful solution to achieve these general objectives, as it is the sole foundation of cloud computing. It better enables organizations to create virtual representations of their IT environment including servers, storage, virtual machines, and networks, among others.

At WEI, we understand the benefits of virtualization, which essentially allows IT teams to improve their resource efficiency, simplifies device management with a software-defined VMs, minimizes downtime, and fast tracks provisioning into existing workflows. Ultimately, our VCDX certification allows our network and virtualization experts to empower customers, across all industries, to better realize the full potential of their VMware enterprise environment and take ownership of their hardware. Being one of just a handful of value-added resellers based in New England that hold this certification, our VCDX capability is a major differentiator as we serve customers across the globe.

So, what exactly is the VCDX certification, and why is it a critical resource for the enterprise? We recently spoke with our VCDX-certified Senior Architect and Virtualization Ambassador, , to find out. Mark earned his VCDX nearly 15 years ago and was one of the first non-VMware employees to earn the certification. Notably, he achieved this without today’s architectural guidance and mentors to lean on, although Mark proudly makes himself available as a mentor to today’s aspiring candidates.

Tech Talk: Identifying Proper Cluster Design For The Enterprise

Understanding The VCDX Certification

VMware Certified Design Expert stands as the highest credential offered by our longtime partner, VMware. It validates an individual’s in-depth knowledge, skills, and experience in designing and implementing complex VMware environments. In doing so, the expert must show they can articulate what an environment’s requirements are, identify what the customer’s desired outcomes are, identify constraints, and then identify risks for the business. During the certification process, the candidate must create detailed, logical documentation, effectively present and defend their design choices in front of a panel, and have a thorough understanding of all design aspects.

While the VCDX itself does not require passing a written exam, there are two mid-tier exams that must be passed before moving on to VCDX. These prerequisites include:

1. Obtaining the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) credential.
2. Securing both the VCAP-Design and VCAP-Administration certifications within a specific track.

“The certification process involves a comprehensive written exam, a detailed design submission, and a grueling defense of the design in front of a panel of VMware experts,” Gabryjelski shares. Earning these credentials demonstrates proficiency in both designing and administering VMware solutions. While VCDX-DCV focuses on advanced data center design expertise, VMware offers a comprehensive range of certification tracks beyond DCV, as follows:

• Cloud Management and Automation (CMA) Track
• Security (SEC) Track
• Network Virtualization (NV) Track
• End-User Computing (EUC) Track
• Application Modernization (AM) Track

These tracks cater to both beginners and experienced professionals, validating the essential skills needed to integrate and manage the technologies that deliver your desired business outcomes. Covering a wide range of technology areas, these tracks provide the flexibility to choose the path that best aligns with your virtualization career goals.

Why VCDX Certification Matters Today

As businesses embrace virtualization to drive agility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, the demand for highly skilled virtualization professionals is increasing. Here’s how the VCDX certification empowers WEI to address this growing need for customers:

1. Unmatched Expertise: As indicated above, VCDX-certified engineers can design, deploy, and manage complex virtualized environments with exceptional efficiency and precision. This means asking the right questions and making the best IT decisions the long-term ramifications in mind.
2. Strategic Design: A VCDX-certified engineer can suggest and design virtualized solutions that align perfectly with your organization’s specific needs and future goals. They can consider scalability, security, performance, and compliance factors to ensure your virtual infrastructure is properly future-proofed.
3. Problem-Solving Prowess: The VCDX program equips professionals with the ability to scope a VMware environment through an advanced lens that is focused on grasping the specific requirements for the customer’s IT systems, desired business outcomes, and identifying the limitations that must be considered when designing solutions.
   
   WEI Tech Talk: vSphere Upgrade and Why Infrastructure Testing Is Important
   
   

Beyond Certification: The Commitment To Empower Clients

Gabryelski also underscores WEI’s commitment to enabling customers through . This investment in customer enablement sets WEI apart, allowing clients to take ownership of their hardware and maximize its value while knowing they can rely on WEI for support and expertise. In a regularly scheduled workshop program, Gabryjelski leads workshops based on the following solutions, all designed to put customers in a better position to own and operate their environment:

• vSphere
• Disaster recovery workflows
• Backup and recovery strategy
• Introduction to PowerShell
• Introduction to Kubernetes

“I think that’s a huge differentiator, because it enables our customers,” says Gabryjelski. “What we end up doing is training our customers. They put themselves in a great position to own and operate, and they know they can come back to us for some assistance if they need it, or even another set of eyes, as they’re planning their next update or upgrade or migration activities.”

Partnering For Success

Choosing the right solutions provider can significantly impact your organization’s success. Under WEI’s VCDX guidance, our network and virtualization team can help you optimize your VMware enterprise deployment. Here, we can effectively collect and assess customer requirements to develop an architectural design that includes virtual infrastructure, configuration suggestions, and deployment validation methods. This also includes producing well-organized documentation, presenting and justifying solution choices, and comprehensively understanding all aspects of the design.

Drawing from his experience, Gabryelski shares how having direct access to a VCDX at WEI has accelerated a customer’s tech stack. He recounts a scenario where a longstanding customer with a sizable ESX infrastructure (80-90 ESX hosts) sought guidance on hardware replacement as the hardware was approaching unsupported status.

Through collaborative discussions, Gabryelski’s careful evaluation of the situation revealed deviations from best practices, which, although minor, provided an opportunity to make improvements. The customer initially requested a straightforward hardware swap, but an opportunity arose to guide them towards a more future-proof strategy. As vSphere’s next version approaches, it will introduce a new patching strategy. Recognizing this, the approach shifted to not only replacing old hardware but also rethinking the cluster’s structure to align with future requirements. This proactive strategy aims to minimize the need for further adjustments and additional projects in the coming years as the new hardware is integrated into the system.

Final Thoughts

We understand that your VMware environment is a major component to your overall IT infrastructure. To achieve your business goals, you deserve a reliable and experienced IT solution provider and partner to design, implement, and manage your virtualized data center with confidence.

Contact WEI today to learn how we can support you through strategic designs and innovative solutions to transform your infrastructure and help your business thrive in today’s dynamic digital landscape.

Next Steps: In this episode, the WEI Tech Talk Podcast welcomes WEI Senior Architect and Virtualization Ambassador Mark Gabryjelski. Mark has been practicing VMware since 2000 and is VCDX #23. Known as “Gabs” around the industry, he is one of the first non-VMware employees to have earned the certification.

Today’s episode will explain what the VCDX certification is and why it elevates WEI as an IT solutions provider. Mark also explains what his journey was like in earning his certification and how the program has evolved over the past several years. The content for this episode was recorded in January 2024.

The post The VCDX Advantage: Redefining IT Solutions With Virtualization Expertise appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

VMware is a leading software and services company focused on cloud computing and virtualization. It also develops and accredits some of the most prestigious certifications in the industry. These certifications are referred to as . VCDX stands for VMware Certified Design Expert. This is for those that have earned a top tier certification from a VMware panel. For example, Cisco CCIE has always been recognized as a highly coveted certification in the networking discipline and VCDX is the equivalent in the virtualization space. Some people even think of this like getting a Ph.D. in virtualization. There are only 269 VCDXs across the globe. There are not very many VCDXs in the New England region and Mark Gabryjelski, WEI’s Virtualization Architect Ambassador, is the only VCDX in New Hampshire. He is VCDX #23.

There are four different VCDX certification areas. Each area focuses on a different VMware offering. The four areas are:

1. Data Center Virtualization (DCV): VMware vSphere focus. This is the core of server storage, network connectivity, and the VMware software stack (ESX and vCenter). It also focuses on some of the ancillary products on that set.
2. Cloud Management and Automation (CMA): VMware vCloud Suite focus. This one is centered around vRealize operations, vRealize automation, and some of the next gen stuff that people are taking their data centers to today.
3. Desktop and Mobility (DM): VMware Horizon Suite focus. This is specifically around user computing, how to do VDI, how to manage users, and how to include mobility and device control into that solution. It’s really around the end user computing space.
4. Network Virtualization (NX): VMware NSX focus. This is primarily for folks with a networking background that can come in and do virtualized networks.

It’s not very common for someone to go through and do more than one. There are a few individuals worldwide that hold three out of four certifications. There is even one individual that has all of them, but that requires a huge skill set and a huge undertaking to do so.

How Do You Earn One?

The only people who will give out VCDX certifications are people who have VCDX certifications themselves. Essentially, you are being judged by those who have attained that certification, very similar to the way Cisco programs handle CCIEs. It is an elite group to be able to join, making it seem only right that current VCDX certified individuals have a say in who else shares the same light.

As an example, we will look at how to go about getting one of the certifications. VMware outlines the six steps required to become a VMware Certified Design Expert 6 – Data Center Virtualization (VCDX6-DCV) with no prior VCDX certifications:

1. Earn the VCP6-DCV or VCP6.5-DCV
2. Earn the VCIX6-DCV or VCIX6.5-DCV badge
3. Review and understand the blueprint
4. Select and build a design, based on the guidance in the handbook
5. Submit and pass the application and design review
6. Successfully defend the design against three panelists

If you hold prior certifications, you just have to pass the exam to maintain an updated certification at the next level. For instance, this past example was for the VCDX6-DCV certification. That is the level 6 certification that aligns with the latest update. If you have no prior VCDX certifications, you have to go through all six steps mentioned above. If you have the VCDX5-DCV certification, all you have to do to maintain the VCDX certification and be level 6 certified is take the VCDX6-DCV certification exam.

Watch the following video, “” to hear about Mark’s journey to becoming VCDX #23, how it has benefited him, and to hear some tips he has for others hoping to earn a VCDX certification.

VCDX Certification Tips

1. Write a Detailed Design
   The certification requires the individual to write a design. Writing a design sounds simple and you could draw a few icons, but that’s not what they are looking for. They are looking for someone to come in and be able to articulate business cases, constraints, risks, assumptions, thorough design, articulate how the design is built from the hardware perspective, to the connectivity perspective, to the SLAs that come around it, backup, recovery, and DR, if that’s part of the design.
2. Be able to Justify your Design
   You have to design all that and justify your decisions about why you are using certain components versus others and why certain software settings are tuned in a certain way.
3. Create an Implementation Guide
   You also have to create an implementation guide. Not only do you design it, but you have to write the implementation guide that you would hand off to a team member with the expectation of them being able to fulfill your design.
4. Submit Your Design
   The next step is taking that design and submitting it to VMware for approval. Once you get approved, you either pass or fail at this point. If you fail, you just rewrite your design and resubmit. If it is approved, it means they see that you have the ability to be a VCDX. The next step is you have to go and defend.
5. Defend your Design
   A defense involves you going and sitting in front of three panelists that validate you created the design and that you understand the concepts, constraints, risks, and the things you articulated in that design. This is tested by taking park in an on the fly designed Q and A with them. It is not the easiest road to get certified, but it is an incredibly rewarding road. Many people do have the necessary skillset, but struggle with the documentation piece.

Where to Start

People start in different areas to work through these certifications. Many recommend starting with the data center certification because if you start with data center and then move onto the others, it seems like a more realistic journey. In order to do the cloud management or the desktop mobility certifications, you need to thoroughly understand vSphere. If you don’t have a data center vSphere VCDX, then you end up trying to do both of those in the same breath. If you can go and do a vSphere data center focused VCDX submission, you’ll have an easier time because then if you go and you do a second or third VCDX, you don’t have to do the defense. You have to write the same design, but then at that point it’s just a quick phone call to make sure that you’ve written the design yourself and validated it. If you went through the full Q&A and defense already, then the panelists have already proven, since you passed your first VCDX, that you can handle yourself in front of a tough crowd. They don’t need to do that again. That is a huge time investment for everyone involved, so now they just conduct a quick phone call to make sure you’re the actual person who did the submission.

Why is it Critical?

This certification validates you as a confident leader of your peers in the space. Many of the early VCDX certification holders have worked with Mark personally in the VMware ecosystem since 2001, 2002, or as they are boarded. As one of the earliest contributors, he has been around and practicing VMware’s virtualization solutions longer than most people have been employed there and he has seen the value it brings to certified individuals first-hand. Being able to say, “yes, I’m capable, and I’m confident I can lead my customers through a solution correctly,” is significant. As the 23^rd individual to get this certification out of 269 total, Mark has been a leader and helped many others along this journey. He even went as far as partnering with other experts to write a to help people through this process.

Partnering with an IT company with VCDX certified employees is a smart move. It is a comprehensive certification program handed out to only the most sophisticated architects and problem solvers. They have to know how the software applies to numerous real-world business problems to be able to offer best-in-class solutions. Partnering with a VCDX certified individual is the only true way to absolutely guarantee you are working with the most knowledgeable people in the virtualization world.

Next Steps: Stay up to date with VMware happenings and the evolution of virtualization by following Mark Gabryjelski on Twitter (@MarkGabbs).

Mark as a VCDX Panelist

Since 1996, Mark Gabryjelski has been involved in design and integration of solutions for clients in all markets. With a focus on datacenter optimization, he has worked with companies across all aspects of business. Mark has been leading the virtualization trend since 2001 nationally, with a focus in the Northeast corridor. He continues to be on the bleeding edge of solutions involving network, storage, server, operating system, and application virtualization. Mark is currently the Virtualization Practice Manager at Worldcom Exchange.

The post What is the VMware VCDX Certification and Why is it Critical? appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.