April 9, 2024
CALGARY, Alberta (March 27, 2013) — In the world of virtualization and cloud infrastructure, earning VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) status is an Everest-like challenge. In a remarkable display of determination and resourcefulness, James Charter and Matt Vandenbeld have managed to reach the summit.
Long View, one of North America’s foremost providers of IT consulting, outsourcing solutions, and cloud services, is proud to announce that Charter and Vandenbeld, two of the company’s virtualization experts, have earned VCDX certification — an extremely rare distinction in the IT sphere.
Long View’s Charter, Practice Director, Virtualization Solutions, and Vandenbeld, Technical Architect, spent hundreds of hours undergoing rigorous training and education to earn the highest level of certification available from technology vendor VMware, an industry leader in cloud and virtualization software.
As a result, Charter and Vandenbeld are now among an elite worldwide group of architects undertaking the most sophisticated virtualization and cloud infrastructure projects. Only five IT experts across Canada, and 110 in total from around the world, have qualified for VMware’s stringent VCDX certification.
“We’re technical people, and this is exciting technology to us,” says Charter. “But we’re really investing in these types of certification paths, and this level of accreditation, so we can deliver more robust solutions for Long View’s customers than anybody else in the geographies that we work in.
“This is the highest certification that VMware has. They have certified us as global design experts,” adds Charter.
“To a Long View client, this means we have the capability of applying the best practices, and the approach, to ensure the solution we’re building with them will be successful.”
To earn full VCDX certification, Charter and Vandenbeld designed and implemented a refined virtualization project that demonstrated an appropriate level of background and expertise. They then successfully submitted, presented, and defended the project in person before a panel of VMware VCDX certified experts — and worked through a design and troubleshooting scenario with the panel, as well.
“We want to continue to raise the bar, in terms of the level and quality of service we offer as a solution provider,” says Charter. “We’re constantly refining our skills, and constantly striving to do things in a more thorough and flexible way for our clients.
“The VCDX certification is part of the advancement that Matt and I are bringing to our teams at Long View. Now that we have that certification, we hope to bring more people along with us.”
Only 44 virtualization architects representing service providers worldwide have achieved VCDX certification. Long View is just one of nine VMware partners around the globe with multiple VCDX graduates. According to VMware, those who earn VCDX certification have proven their ability to design and craft a virtualization strategy while balancing the entire datacenter with a company’s business needs.
Charter and Vandenbeld were the 106th and 107th IT experts in the world, respectively, to make the VCDX grade.
“James and Matt have proven to the VMware certification evaluation board that they are more than qualified to design and architect a datacenter infrastructure based on the VMware platform,” says Chris Cottam, VMware’s senior director of global education. “We would recommend James and Matt as an expert resource for customers looking to optimize their IT environments.”
ABOUT LONG VIEW: Long View, a true Canadian success story and one of North America’s foremost providers of IT consulting, outsourcing solutions, and cloud services, began 13 years ago in Western Canada. Recently recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies and ranked 7th on the 2011 CDN Top 100, Long View is now beginning its push across Canada into the Toronto market and as always will focus on providing great people with terrific careers and delivering great value to clients.
Long View is one of the most powerful IT solutions and services companies in North America, with offices across the continent. With a clear focus on combining business and technology in key areas such as cloud, datacenter infrastructure, user support, and IT outsourcing, Long View is able to define and customize what the future of IT looks like. Innovative, flexible, cost-effective, and business focused . . . that’s Long View.
For more information:
Tannis Ebbels Director of Marketing and Communications Long View
Phone: 403.387.3489 E-mail: [email protected]