The CEO Round Table included our Dell CEO, Michael Dell; the triumvirate from VMware and EMC- Pat Gelsinger, Paul Maritz & Joe Tucci; and the CEO from NetApp- Tom Georgens. The session was moderated by Wired Editor-in-Chief, Chris Anderson. Usually, executive sessions at VMworld are all style and little substance i.e. lots of teleprompter reading and fixed messages. In addition, the CEO session was stacked head-to-head against three other highly regarded technical sessions with stupendously, credentialed speakers. Factor in the long lines that formed 30-minutes before the session for a 1500+ seat room and the anticipation was palatable.
The session started out with Chris talking about mobility, social media and the consumerization of IT. Michael was the first to address it and he discussed the shift from the traditional workforce to the mobile/remote/connected workforce. Michael, also, reiterated the importance of IT security. The discussions between the CEOs were great with the ice-breaker moment coming from Michael when he interjected that Dell does storage too during an EMC and NetApp back and forth. The audience quite enjoyed that moment.
Michael was on his A-game and had many wonderful moments during the session. His best moment was his candid response to Chris' question about the Post PC era. To which, Michael said, "The Post PC era has been great to Dell." Heck yeah! What an awesome, impromptu response. It was an instant classic. Overall, this session earned its well-deserved standing ovation when it ended.
Speaking of instant classic, DellTechCenter.com will have our annual User Group Event at VMworld (DTCUG-ip) from 4:30-7PM Pacific Time today in the Westin on Market Street in Met I Room. If you are not at VMworld, you can watch the presentations via DTCUG-ip.
