I’ve been a VMUG Advantage member going on three years now so I’ve experienced first hand some of the great value that it brings along with it. Basically, if you plan on attending VMworld and doing a couple of exams or training courses throughout the year the VMUG Advantage discounts offered more than pay for the program fees. The full VMUG Advantage beneiftis can be seen here, but for laziness sake, here’s a quick outline of the “biggies”.
- $100 discount on VMworld
- 20% off VMware delivered classes
- 20% off VMware certifications
- Access to all VMworld online content
- 50% off VMware Workstation/Fusion
- Discounts on VMware Learning Zone, VMware On-Demand, Lab Connect and more.
With that said, those that can’t attend VMworld or are not planning on taking any VMware training or exams might find themselves scratching their heads wondering what real value the VMUG Advantage program can bring to them. And honestly, before now their wasn’t a whole lot.
Enter EVALExperience
New in 2015 VMUG Advantage subscribers will now have access to EVALExperience! EVALExpereince provides subscribers with exclusive access to certain pieces of VMware software, coupled with a 365 day non-production NFR license. Basically, VMUG Advantage subscribers will be able to download and use nine different pieces of VMware software in their home labs in order to explore new features, gain hands on experience and further educate themselves on the offerings. So what’s included? Well, it’s not a simple lightweight set of software – there is some expensive sweet applications included (shown below) that should be able to keep you busy for the year
VMware vCenter Server 5 Standalone. VMware vSphere w/ Operations Management (Enterprise Plus), VMware vCloud Suite Standard, VMware vRealize Operations Insight, VMware vRealize Operations 6 Enterprise, VMware vRealize Log Insight, VMware vRealize Operations for Horizon, VMware Horizon Advanced, VMware Virtual SAN
To me, EVALExperience is a solution to a couple of gripes within the community. First, it adds that extra value to those VMUG Advantage subscribers that don’t attend VMworld, or don’t take any official training or certifications. IMO the ability to evaluate and download software for longer than the usual 60 day trial period is well worth the $200 price tag of VMUG Advantage. Secondly, it provides somewhat of a replacement to the VMTN that VMware used to offer. The VMTN which offered a similar type solution of downloading and using NFR licenses of VMware’s products was put to rest a number of years back. The community for a while now have been trying to get VMware to reinstate the VMTN – this to me, along with teaming up with VMUG, answers those screams about the VMTN.
So, if you are already a VMUG Advantage subscriber you should have received an email outlining how you can gain access, if you aren’t, go and sign up here. More info on the EVALExperience program can also be found here. For now, a big thanks to VMUG and Happy Testing!!!
