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InnoVision Awards 2020

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Jamarcus Gaston Hosting the 2020 Awards InnoVision  awards recognizes innovation in South Carolina annually through its InnoVision Awards program. Established in 1999, the awards are dedicated to the advancement of innovations and technology. I have been honored to be a judge for these awards since 2015. It is great to be part of this program to see all the innovation coming from my home state of South Carolina.  2016 Program Guide This year there were 11 winners and three I want to highlight below.  Blinktbi, Inc. won the Technology Development award for their solution to assess the blink reflex. The stimulated trigeminal nerve sends a message to the brain stem that results in the facial nerve sending a message to the eyelids to blink. That process is the blink reflex. Their technology captures and analyzes 12,000 data points. Many conditions and diseases are indicated when the blink reflex changes. Depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and concussions can all trigger a change in the bl

VMUG Call for Content

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VMUG is a global organization  with a mission  for members to get the most out of VMware and partner solutions.  To do this ,  we create and  curate  the best content we can.   The  best content comes from  you .    Our members  appreciate  hear ing  from peers   who share their own experiences with VMware products and solutions . Members  who  have  architected the  plan ,  completed the install, and deployed  the upgrade.  You might think it needs to be the hot new topic  –  K8 ,   AI/ML, or digital workspace. Well, you are wrong !  Those topics are indeed great , but our data shows a presentation from a peer , no matter the topic,   is one of  our  highest rated session s for events and online content.   The reason is simple :   we trust  each other’s  experience because it is real. A peer is  presenting  to benefit  the community. To share the good, bad, and ugly  to  help  others  avoid the mistakes  and do it better.    VMUG shares content via events , blogs,   video,  and  podca

Telco 5G, What You Need to Know

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Photo by  Ralph (Ravi) Kayden  on  Unsplash Telco and 5G has been taking main stage for some time now. Pat Gelsinger said, “5G is the single biggest tech investment we will see in our lifetime.” What does this mean for the VMUG member new and old? 5G matters to all technologists, and I’m going to share 5 reasons why. Carrier Improvements Carriers have traditionally provided connectivity. That model is not sustainable, and carriers need to do more. Technology is driving carriers to continue to provide higher bandwidth and better coverage, but also more applications to manage edge and the IoT. The most efficient way to deliver these apps is through virtualization and more specifically, Kubernetes. Virtualization VMware has a strong history in virtualization and is used by most, if not all Fortune 500 companies. VMware can handle extremely large virtualization deployments. Telco’s need a software partner who can handle their large workloads and VMware is in position to be that par

Turning 50 – An IT Journey

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  Photo by  Kendall Scott on Unsplash Today I turn 50 years old. What an interesting and amazing ride with lots of twist and turns!  As I reflect on my career, I wanted to focus on the people who provided my greatest “Ah Ha” moments.    I attended the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) and graduated with an Information Systems degree. My first job was with Computer Sales & Services in Columbia, South Carolina. The job focused on selling computers, networking, services, and accessories to corporate accounts across the state. Though It was a small company,  I worked with many great people who illustrated how to balance work and life. The owner of the company offered a bit of advice; master the hard part of your job and the rest becomes easy.  Success will ultimately follow. What great advice! Implementing this mindset has served me well in my career. The next stop on my career journey was with a company called PC Genius . It was a small local computer training company