In 2017, I was privileged to receive my first VMware vExpert title. Nine years later, I want to share how this programme, and more importantly the community it represents, has shaped my career in ways I could never have anticipated.
At its heart, vExpert is about giving back: contributing to the VMware community above and beyond your day job, and being recognised for that commitment. The programme’s philosophy resonates deeply: quality over quantity, community over self-promotion, and the belief that what you give, you receive in abundance.
Building with the Community
In 2017, I joined Runecast as a Principal Developer alongside the founders, including Stanimir Markov (VCDX #74). What struck me immediately was not just the technical ambition (pioneering proactive security monitoring and observability for VMware environments) but the culture. Runecast was built by people who understood the VMware community because they were deeply embedded in it. We were not just colleagues writing code together; we were community members who had spent years answering forum questions, presenting at VMUGs, and blogging about real-world challenges. That shared background shaped everything we built, and we all became vExperts in the process.
In a startup, roles are multi-faceted. I was deep in the codebase, but also responsible for translating best practices and security standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, CyberEssentials, and DISA-STIG into observability software product. This meant speaking to engineers across every vertical and use case imaginable. The vExpert network gave us direct access to administrators facing real compliance challenges, and they gave us honest, invaluable feedback.
The best products are built by people who understand how technology actually works in production. The vExpert and VMUG communities are where that knowledge lives: real engineers sharing real experiences, not marketing abstractions.
During my time at Runecast, we attended VMworld conferences and VMUG events across the globe. These were not sales trips. They were opportunities to reconnect with peers and get direct feedback. Presenting early product iterations to rooms full of sceptical, experienced administrators meant tough questions and direct feedback. It made the product better. That is the vExpert ethos in action: share what you know, challenge each other, and improve together.
When Dynatrace acquired Runecast, it validated what we had always believed: products built by and for the community have enduring value.
Contributing by Learning from Extremes
Before Runecast, during my many years at BAE Systems, I led a team that designed and built from scratch an original Sovereign Cloud Management Platform software product for the most extreme of mission-critical VMware data centres. This meant automating and controlling infrastructure in classified environments where failure was not an option, and neither was tech support!
Working in highly sensitive and challenging environments might seem like a barrier to community contribution, but the opposite can be true. The core challenges (security, availability, manageability, recoverability and performance) apply across every industry that takes infrastructure seriously. Defence, finance, healthcare: they all face the same kind of fundamental problems. They also need the same disciplined systems engineering approach to create solutions which are built on design best practices the expert technology communities share.
The community informs your learning, and your skills and development inform your community contributions. That reciprocity is what the vExpert programme is built on.
Why It Matters
Every year when vExpert applications open, it is good to ask: have I given back enough? The programme requires ongoing contribution. It is an annual reflection that can keep you honest about community involvement.
The community keeps giving. Every VMware Explore, every VMUG session, every conversation with a fellow vExpert can teach you something new. The technology evolves (vSphere to NSX to vSAN to VCF to VKS) but the community remains constant: generous, knowledgeable, and committed to helping each other succeed. The programme proves that community is currency, and the ROI is invaluable.
To anyone considering applying: start contributing. Write that blog post. Answer that forum question. Volunteer at your local VMUG. Present that session you have been putting off. You will discover a community that can transform your professional skills and development.
Warren Legg is COO at Spartan Systems Ltd, specialising in VMware Cloud Foundation, sovereign cloud architectures, and mission-critical platform delivery. He has been a VMware vExpert since 2017 and holds VCIX-DCV, VCP VCF Architect, CKA, and CKAD certifications.
