Registration opens April 28. Here's everything you need to know — and a few things nobody tells you — from someone who's been twice.
If you work in enterprise IT and haven't heard of VMware Explore, here's the short version: it's the premier annual conference for VMware technologies and the broader virtualization ecosystem. Formerly known as VMworld, the event draws thousands of IT professionals, architects, engineers, and executives from around the globe for four days of technical sessions, hands-on labs, product announcements, and — critically — face time with the people and companies shaping the future of enterprise infrastructure.
I've attended twice — once in San Francisco and most recently in Las Vegas. Both were genuinely exciting experiences. The energy in the room when a major product announcement lands, or when you sit down in a deep-technical session and realize the person next to you is dealing with the exact same problem you've been wrestling with for months — that's the kind of thing you simply can't replicate on a webinar.
The expo floor at VMware Explore is something else. Major enterprise vendors show up in force — HP, IBM, Microsoft, Pure Storage, Dell Technologies, and dozens of others all maintain significant presences. The VMware User Groups are active throughout the event, running their own sessions and meetups alongside the official agenda. If you're looking to expand your professional network, evaluate new products, or simply understand what direction the industry is heading, there is no better single place to do it.
The sessions themselves range from broad keynote-style presentations to deeply technical breakouts where you can get into the weeds on vSphere configurations, VCF architecture, Tanzu, and whatever Broadcom is prioritizing this year. The hands-on labs are particularly valuable — you get access to live environments to practice with technologies you might not have in your own infrastructure yet.
The days are long. Plan for that. You'll be on your feet from early morning through evening receptions, and if you're doing it right you'll end each day having had more conversations and absorbed more information than feels humanly possible. It is exhausting in the best way.
This is something the marketing materials don't always make clear: the quality of your experience is directly tied to the admission package you choose. Full conference admission includes access to the general session meals and catered events, which are genuinely excellent — well-organized, high quality, and a natural setting for continuing conversations from the sessions. If you opt for a lower tier to save money, you may find yourself navigating a very large convention center looking for lunch on your own. My recommendation is to budget for full admission and treat the food and events as part of the investment, not an afterthought.
This is something I learned the hard way, and I haven't seen it written about anywhere else, so pay attention: if you are paying for your own registration privately, do not list a US State government agency as your employer or a company you work for.
VMware has strict compliance rules around giveaways and participatory event prizes for government employees — specifically around gift restrictions that apply to public sector workers. Even if you are paying entirely out of pocket as a private individual, listing a state agency affiliation can disqualify you from certain conference giveaways and participatory events.
Here's why this matters more than you might think. At last year's Las Vegas event, VMware included proctored certification exams as part of the full registration package — a genuinely valuable perk that lets you walk away with an official VMware credential at no additional cost. On top of that, attendees who successfully passed their exam received a special gift. Last year it was a pair of VMware-branded sneakers. I passed my exam. I did not receive the sneakers. Why? Because my registration listed the State of California among my affiliations, which triggered the government gift restriction policy — even though I had paid for everything privately out of my own pocket.
It was a frustrating lesson. Don't repeat it. If you consult for government clients but are attending as a private individual, list your consulting firm or independent practice only — not the agency — when completing your registration.
This year's event comes at a particularly interesting moment for the VMware ecosystem. Since Broadcom's acquisition, there has been significant change in how VMware products are licensed, packaged, and priced — and the effects are still rippling through enterprise IT departments everywhere. I expect licensing strategy and the migration path to VMware Cloud Foundation to dominate a significant portion of the technical conversation this year.
Beyond that, the intersection of VMware infrastructure with AI workloads is a growing area of focus — how organizations run and manage GPU-intensive environments on vSphere, and how Broadcom positions VMware in an increasingly hybrid and AI-driven world. If those topics are relevant to your organization, the sessions at Explore 2026 will be worth the trip alone.
If you work with VMware technologies in any serious capacity — as an administrator, architect, consultant, or decision-maker — yes. The combination of technical depth, vendor access, peer networking, and hands-on lab time is genuinely difficult to replicate any other way. And don't overlook the certification opportunity: VMware has included proctored certification exams as part of full registration at recent events, meaning you can walk away with an official VMware credential at no additional cost. That alone can justify a significant portion of the registration fee for anyone working toward a certification.
The investment in registration and travel pays for itself quickly if you approach the event with intention: know what sessions you want to attend, identify the vendors you want to meet, plan which certification exam you want to sit, and go in with specific technical questions you want answered.
Registration opens April 28, 2026. Early registration typically offers the best pricing, so if you're planning to go, don't wait.
VMware Explore 2026 US
The Venetian Convention and Expo Center — Las Vegas, Nevada
August 31 – September 3, 2026
Registration opens: April 28, 2026
Ready to register or want to learn more about what to expect? Visit the official VMware Explore site for session previews, pricing, and the insider registration link.
VMware Explore 2026 → Questions? Contact Robert