I'm a vExpert! But how??

Well... How about that...  I was accepted as a vExpert this time around!!  I am really proud and excited to be part of this awesome community.

I'm sure that some people might wonder "how the heck did HE get to be a vExpert??  There's nothing on his blog."  And they're not wrong... as you can see, I only have 1 other post, and it's an old one simply introducing myself.  The good news is you don't need to be a blogger in order to become a vExpert!

So, what did I do?  There are 4 possible paths to becoming a vExpert.

1. The Evangelist path - this path would be for your public figures... authors, bloggers, public speakers, etc.
2. The VMware Partner Network path - This would be for employees of companies that are VMware Partners
3. The VCDX path - For VCDX certification holders
4. The Customer Path - This is for VMware Customers that are willing to be advocates for VMware within their company, provided customer references, participated in interviews for blog posts/media/etc, and just been an overall champion for VMware.

I decided to go for the customer path.  A large part of this has come from my participation in the VMware Champions community.  I learned about this and joined up at last years VMworld.  It's a community that occasionally posts "challenges" to complete, and rewards you with points that can be turned in towards different VMware Champions branded gifts.  Most of all though, it is used to educate customers, and these "challenges" have connected me with various people allowing me to participate in IDC interviews, and be used as a customer reference for different VMware products that I already use every day.

I also try to keep active on my twitter account.  Don't think that you need to tweet any profound revelation, just be sure to follow the various VMware accounts, other vExperts, etc and like/retweet any content that you find interesting and want to help spread the word.  

Basically, to sum up, BE ACTIVE in the community!  I'm proof positive that you don't have to be a popular blogger (or even blog at all) in order to be accepted.  Just be an active community member and VMware advocate!

About me

Welcome to murben.net.  My name is Ben Moore and I'm an IT Systems Engineer located in upstate New York.

I have no idea what this is going to be, or what will ultimately end up here but it was suggested that I start a blog.  It will likely revolve around my day job consisting mostly of VMware products as well as other related enterprise level technologies.

For a little bit of my history, I've worked in one form of IT for the past 18 years (ever since I graduated from high school).  That's right... no college level education here.  I started my career in the year 2000 by working in a little "mom and pop" type computer store which entailed building custom PC's, cleaning up the typical spyware laden machine, etc.  That store eventually closed up shop and left me unemployed for a few weeks.

Around 2001, after the computer shop closed up, I was hired by a regional bank and started out as an entry level systems technician.  This consisted of constantly running user to user correcting desktop issues, replacing PC's, basic end user troubleshooting, etc.  This bank is where I would spend close to the next 10 years working my way up and furthering my education and experience, and would finish out my time there as the Technology Services Support Manager.

After 10 years I realized that I preferred being able to be hands on with the technology rather than managing the people that did.  I decided that it was time to move on from the bank and in 2011 was hired at a local insurance company as a Systems Engineer.  Eventually I was promoted to a Senior Systems Engineer, and ultimately to the Lead Systems Engineer (the position I currently hold).

Throughout my journey, I've been able to acquire the following certifications:

CompTIA A+
CompTIA Linux+
Certified Novell Administrator 6.5
HDI Certified Support Center Manager
VMware Certified Professional - Datacenter Virtualization
VMware Certified Professional - Desktop and Mobility

I've had the advantage of being able to work with some of the top technologies in the industry and form some key relationships over the years.  I love what I do and will hopefully be able to share some of my knowledge and experience through this blog.

Thanks for stopping by!