Are you a Cisco/VMware partner going to VMware Partner Exchange(PEX)? In Vegas!  Next week!  If so, and you're focused on growing your VDI practice, there's some great content for you to take in while there. Before I get into PEX, let me remind you about our on-going blog series, "VDI - The Questions You Didn't Ask (But Really Should)".  We're up to Question 4 (coming soon), and if you're looking for some great insights into the mystique of processor selection and impact on VDI performance/density/etc, this is the series for you!  Now onto PEX...

Improving the ROI of VDI within small and medium-sized organizations

Next week, we'll be updating our VMware partner community on new solutions that offer an accelerated path to growing their VDI practice, especially for smaller deployments, as found in small and medium sized businesses (or pilot / proof-of-concept environments), where the up-front CAPEX hurdle is often too much of a barrier to make VDI cost effective.

New Ecosystem Solutions Portfolio

In tandem with VMware, we'll be announcing a new portfolio of solutions built with ecosystem partners helping to deliver better VDI price-to-performance ratios, greater operational simplicity, and uncompromised user experience, built on Cisco UCS with VMware Horizon View.

Delivering the Tools to Make Our Channel Partners Successful in 2013

Next week we have good news for Cisco/VMware channel partners who want to grow their VDI practice, and deliver unprecedented value for their customers.  Join us at PEX to learn about how Cisco and VMware are accelerating our partners' path to success in 2013

So Are You Ready for PEX?  Here are some key activities you don't want to miss:

Cisco Partner Bootcamp (#SPO2400)

Monday, February 25, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

The Cisco Boot Camp is dedicated to educating and enabling partners to sell and deploy Cisco solutions successfully. Here's the best part J VDI is up first at 8:30am!  I'm pretty sure we'll have food and non-alcoholic beverages (c'mon you're in Vegas, I really don't think that will pose a problem) to make it worth your while.  You will:

Cisco's Breakout Session (#SPO2421): Cisco Unified Data Center -From Server to Network
Wednesday, February 27, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Presenter: Satinder Sethi, VP, Server Product Management and Data Center Solutions, Cisco

Attend the Cisco breakout to understand why today's data center architecture must support a highly mobile workforce, proliferation of devices, and data-driven business models and be capable of transparently incorporating cloud applications and services. Satinder Sethi will present these diverse requirements and discuss how the Cisco Unified Data Center platform addresses these challenges.

You will learn about the Cisco Unified Data Center architecture, which combines compute, storage, network, and management into a platform designed to automate IT as a service across physical and virtual environments, resulting in increased budget efficiency, more agile business responsiveness, and simplified IT operations.

Demo's!  Stop By Booth#1015

Eight solid demos await you at our PEX booth this year, includingVDI with VMware Horizon View and our UCS Storage Accelerator (using Fusion-io), Unified Computing System (UCS), Cisco Office in a Box with UCS-Express, Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud, Cisco Cloupia, and Cisco Nexus 1000v to name a few.  Experts on hand will answer any/all questions!

It will be a busy week -mark your calendars with the activities above, and see you there!