Meet NPX 014 – Derek Seaman
- Name: Derek Seaman
- NPX Number:014
- Employer: Nutanix
- Blog URL: derekseaman.com
- Twitter: @vDerekS
- Virtualisation background: I’ve been working with VMware since early 2009, when I was working at Lockheed Martin on a large Government project. A few years later I moved to Qualcomm, where I earned my VMware Certified Design Expert – Datacenter Virtualization (VCDX-DCV #125) certification. After I made VCDX, I transitioned to Nutanix in March 2014. Since being at Nutanix I’ve picked up AHV (Nutanix’s hypervisor) and continued to refine my VMware skills on an enterprise level.
- Storage Background:I’ve been working with traditional 3-tier SANs since the early 2000s, before virtualization was wildly popular. My main exposure was to HP storage, including their 3PAR acquisition, and Brocade Fibre Channel switches. In fact, I had achieved Brocade’s top fibre channel certification back in the day. Prior to my exposure to HCI, my last enterprise design was based on Cisco UCS and HP 3PAR storage.
- Hyper Converged Infrastructure background: Prior to joining Nutanix in March 2014, I had almost zero exposure to HCI. I read up enough about Nutanix to speak intelligently about it during my interview process, and I was super excited to envision the possibilities. Since joining Nutanix I’ve had the pleasure of in-depth exposure to the best HCI solution in the market.
- Future of HCI and other emerging technologies:I think HCI is here to stay, but HCI was just the first step for Nutanix. HCI is just an underpinning of what enterprises need, but what’s really important is all the services you can build on top of HCI for private and hybrid clouds. I’m excited to see what Nutanix and the industry as a whole will be doing over the next 3-5 years.
- Value of NPX: The NPX certification validates that someone is skilled at the “X” level in two hypervisors, and as an enterprise architect. It proves that you can be dropped into nearly any account or environment and have the skills to provide value and solve enterprise class problems.
- What made you go for NPX:I’m a competitive person by nature, when it comes to my career. Colleagues which I highly respect were NPX’s, and I saw what it did for their knowledge and respect. I wanted to test myself and see if I could make the high NPX bar.
- Advise to people looking into the NPX track:Read the blueprint! Practice your consulting skills, and highly refine your documentation skills. Do mock defenses until your head is about to explode, then do more. Practice troubleshooting, and how to do a design session with a customer. Get a NPX mentor early on in the process, and expect after you get NPP to spend 6-12 months getting prepared for NPX.