Goodbye VMworld, Hello VMware Explore ‘Multi-Cloud Universe’ Event

‘Welcome to the Center of the Multi-Cloud Universe’ is VMware’s tagline for its brand-new flagship event, VMware Explore 2022.

After 18 years of VMworlds and hundreds of thousands of global attendees, VMware is evolving its flagship conference, VMworld, to focus on its multi-cloud future by unveiling its first in-person event in over two years with VMware Explore.

“Welcome to the Center of the Multi-Cloud Universe” is VMware’s tagline for its brand-new flagship event, VMware Explore 2022, with the promise to be more inclusive of more technologies and developer communities that are shaping the multi-cloud world.

VMware Explore 2022 will be the company’s first large in-person conference since the global COVID-19 pandemic with huge expectations to become the industry go-to-event for all things multi-cloud.

VMware Explore U.S. will take place Aug. 29 through Sept. 1 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

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“I’m super excited about VMware Explore 2022,” VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram said in a statement. “It’s going to be a unique event—a ‘gathering of the tribes’ for the multi-cloud community. I can’t wait to welcome all the innovators who are leading the way in defining the multi-cloud era, including our customers, our ecosystem partners and influencers from around the world.”

VMworld’s History And VMware Explore’s Future

VMware held its first-ever VMworld in 2004 in San Diego, with about 1,500 attendees, according to a VMware blog. Over the next 15 years, VMworld’s attendance would soar to over 21,000 people for the mega technology event with the majority of live U.S. events taking place in Las Vegas and San Francisco.

However, the global COVID-19 pandemic would halt in-person VMworlds in 2020 and 2021.

Now, VMware is looking to reimagine and reinvent its flagship event with VMware Explore, which kicks off in the U.S. in late August in San Francisco, followed by a European VMware Explore event in Barcelona, Spain, in November. VMware expects to announce official VMware Explore events in Brazil, Singapore, Japan and China later this year.

VMware’s goal with revamping VMworld into VMware Explore is to include more technologies and ecosystem and developer communities that help shape the multi-cloud universe.

After two years of virtual events, VMware Explore 2022 attendees will experience a “refreshed customer event” and an opportunity to network with friends and colleagues, according to Laura Heisman, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at VMware.

“VMware Explore will serve as the center of the multi-cloud universe. This event will bring together customers, partners, developers and industry experts to share best practices and insights,” said Heisman in a statement. “This evolution reflects how VMware is transforming to work with our customers and ecosystem to innovate and deliver powerful VMware Cross-Cloud services for the Multi-Cloud Era.”

What To Expect At VMware Explore U.S. 2022

Attendees who will be making the physical or virtual trip to San Francisco for VMware Explore U.S. can expect feature-rich technical content—both in-person and on-demand—along with more business-oriented sessions, customer success stories, community corners and a renewed attendee experience.

VMware Explore 2022 will feature more industry-led solution and technical sessions than ever before, an extensive ecosystem of 90 percent of the top cloud partners, a marketplace of multi-cloud ISVs, and several networking events with VMware Cross-Cloud services and open-source communities.

There also will be more non-VMware-led content and speakers at VMware Explore compared with VMworld in order to provider fresh, distinct voices and points of view. Attendees will hear from community leaders, developers, executives, VMware customers and VMware partners in keynotes, breakout sessions, small group sessions, gamified sessions, hands-on labs and more.

VMware customers, channel partners and developers will be able to learn about multi-cloud and edge architectures from the perspective of VMware product experts and industry thought leaders, as well as how to streamline developer experiences and DevOps practices across applications.

VMware said attendees can collaborate with industry and VMware experts as well as customers to solve challenges such as outdated infrastructure, monolithic applications, diverse cloud operating models or gaps in security by simplifying multi-cloud complexity.

Will There Be A Digital Component Offered For VMware Explore?

There will be an option for people not wanting to attend the VMware Explore in-person. VMware said it will offer unique on-demand content as well as replays from the events in the U.S. and Europe. Access to the VMware Explore U.S. content will be free but will require a VMware ID to access.

Registration for VMware Explore U.S. opens in May 2022.