Wait, actually, we can do at least one thing: stop and ask ourselves a question: Was VMworld 2013 the best VMworld ever?

Today at VMworld in sunny and super hot Barcelona more than 800 attendees listened to inspirational speeches on how the software-defined data center is extending the proven model of virtualization across storage, networking and security.

IDC recently upgraded their 2020 forecast for storage growth from 40x to 50x of what we have now, saying there will be 6.6 zetabytes of digital stuff, or almost two desktop drives fully loaded with data for every single person in worldwide population then. Not easy to believe? Take a short story for example. Every time I have a lecture on cloud storage for IT pros of financial institutions, I bring my fresh version of the PPT on a USB stick, copy it to a presenter’s PC, make some edits and send it over to a dozen attendees creating up to 20 copies of the original almost instantly. With all lectures past and many still to come, hundreds of copies will end up on peoples’ desktops and in their mailboxes.

Partners who registered for a full conference pass were entitled to attend Partner Day on a complimentary basis on Monday October 14. Listen to keynote speeches, attend focused breakout sessions covering VMware products, pricing and programs, and network with peers in this special day specifically for VMware Partners.