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, Mark Gabryjelski, 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:
- Obtaining the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) credential.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 education and training initiatives. 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.
