2025 vExpert Subprogram Applications Now Open: Expand Your VMware Expertise

Calling all VMware vExperts and virtualization pros! VMware has officially opened applications for the 2025 vExpert subprograms, inviting the community’s most passionate contributors to specialize further and engage deeper with VMware’s product teams. These subprograms are exclusive tracks within the vExpert program that recognize and empower experts in specific domains or roles. They not only let you shine in your focus area but also provide direct engagement with VMware’s Business Units (BUs) – including NDA roadmap briefings, beta testing opportunities, and dedicated sessions with product teams. In short, vExpert subprograms are a gateway to even greater community impact and insider access.

In this article, we introduce the subprograms and highlight three in particular – vExpert PRO, vExpert Security, and vExpert VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation) – with details on their focus, eligibility, and how they contribute to the vExpert ecosystem. If you’re a current vExpert looking to amplify your influence or an IT professional aiming to join these ranks, read on with enthusiasm!

Expert PRO Subprogram – Mentorship and Advocacy Network

The vExpert PRO subprogram is all about community mentorship and advocacy. Launched in 2018, its purpose is to “create a network of vExperts around the world who are willing to identify and recruit new vExperts in their local communities and be mentors for these new vExperts”. In other words, vExpert PROs are the ambassadors of the vExpert program: seasoned vExperts who go above and beyond to champion the program, nurture talent, and help manage the community. As VMware describes it, “a vExpert Pro is a current vExpert who… works as an advocate for the vExpert program, recruiting, mentoring and training people” in their region.

Roles and Responsibilities: vExpert PROs wear many hats in supporting the vExpert community. Some of the key responsibilities of a vExpert PRO include:

Advocating the vExpert program and recruiting new candidates: They actively evangelize the value of the vExpert program in their local region and identify promising community members to nominate or encourage for the award. By explaining the program’s advantages and showcasing success stories, PROs help grow the vExpert family by bringing in new talent.
Mentoring aspiring and new vExperts: A core duty of a vExpert PRO is to guide others through the application process and beyond. PROs mentor newcomers – offering advice on how to qualify, reviewing applications, and providing career guidance – as well as support current vExperts who seek to expand their contributions. This mentorship ensures that community members continuously learn and succeed.
Supporting and growing existing vExperts: vExpert PROs don’t just focus on newcomers; they also assist current vExperts in improving and expanding their impact. Whether it’s helping a fellow vExpert start a blog, co-presenting at events, or encouraging advanced projects, PROs uplift the entire community by fostering growth among peers.
Collaborating with vExpert program management: Uniquely, vExpert PROs serve as an extension of the VMware vExpert program team. They work closely with the program organizers on initiatives like localizing content (breaking language barriers), spreading program news, and providing feedback from the field. In essence, they help bridge between VMware’s program management and the global community, ensuring the vExpert program stays accessible and relevant everywhere.

Eligibility: To become a vExpert PRO, you must first be a current vExpert in good standing (i.e. a 2025 vExpert awardee). Selection of PROs is typically based on one’s proven track record in community leadership. VMware looks for vExperts who are “very active in their local IT community” and exhibit the willingness to mentor and recruit others. In practice, vExpert PROs are often nominated by VMware or peers for their outstanding advocacy. If you love helping others succeed and have been a vocal VMware community champion, the PRO subprogram could be your calling.

Why It Matters: The vExpert PRO subprogram amplifies the spirit of community. PROs ensure the vExpert ethos (“giving back” beyond your day job) perpetuates by onboarding new experts and helping fellow vExperts excel. They are the mentors behind the scenes of many vExpert success stories. By joining this subprogram, you don’t just get a new title – you take on a fulfilling role as a leader in the vCommunity, with direct collaboration with VMware’s Evangelism team. It’s a fantastic opportunity to shape the vExpert program’s future while uplifting others. 🎉

vExpert Security Subprogram – Championing VMware Security

With cybersecurity now front-and-center in IT, the vExpert Security subprogram focuses on experts who are passionate about securing VMware environments. Launched in 2020 through a collaboration between VMware’s Security Business Unit and Carbon Black (shortly after VMware’s acquisition of Carbon Black), this subprogram creates a dedicated community for sharing knowledge on VMware security solutions and best practices. “We are cybersecurity enthusiasts… here to share with you and to promote the community by creating a space to access and share knowledge,” said the program’s leaders. In short, vExpert Security is all about fostering security expertise within the VMware ecosystem – from network micro-segmentation with NSX, to workload protection with Carbon Black Cloud, to identity and access management in the virtualized data center.

Focus Area & Relevance: vExpert Security members specialize in virtualization security. This includes topics like securing virtual machines and ESXi hosts, networking and firewalling in software-defined data centers, cloud-native security, and leveraging VMware’s security products (e.g. NSX Distributed Firewall, Carbon Black endpoint security, VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery security features, etc.). In an era of escalating cyber threats, having a group of vExperts devoted to security strengthens the overall community – they act as go-to resources for hardening VMware deployments and addressing new vulnerabilities. The relevance of this subprogram is huge: it helps bridge the gap between security and virtualization teams, ensuring that VMware users adopt a “secure by design” approach in everything they do.
Eligibility: The vExpert Security subprogram is open only to current vExperts. In fact, when it was first introduced, VMware specified that to join the program, you must already be a vExpert. For 2025, that means you need to have earned the vExpert 2025 award to be eligible. Within that pool, ideal candidates are those who have demonstrated a strong interest or contribution in security. For example, maybe you’ve blogged about vSphere encryption, presented on NSX security at VMUG meetings, or helped your company implement robust security policies using VMware tools. Showing thought leadership in cybersecurity as it relates to VMware technologies will greatly bolster your application. Don’t worry if your contributions aren’t massive yet – passion and a clear intent to evangelize security in the community also count.
Community Contributions: vExpert Security members serve as security evangelists in the vExpert community. They might host webinars or workshops on securing VMware infrastructure, write how-to guides on topics like hardening vCenter or using Carbon Black to protect VMs, and share threat intelligence relevant to virtualized environments. The program’s leaders encourage members to “stay active by participating in group discussions, posting on social media and promoting the vExpert program… become the evangelists of the program”. In practice, this means as a vExpert Security, you are expected to share knowledge continuously – whether through blog posts, tweets, VMUG talks, or even internal advocacy – and help other IT professionals understand and deploy VMware security features. Another big aspect is collaboration with VMware’s security product teams: vExpert Security acts as a feedback channel for VMware’s Security BU. You’ll likely get access to NDA roadmap sessions or special briefings on VMware security offerings, where you can provide input and ask questions. By contributing in these ways, vExpert Security members elevate the overall security posture of the VMware user community and influence product direction. It’s a rewarding role with real impact!

Enthusiastically, the vExpert Security subprogram is a perfect fit if you live and breathe cybersecurity and want to connect with like-minded VMware experts. It’s a chance to be recognized for your security expertise and to work closely with VMware’s own security strategists. From tackling industry challenges like ransomware in virtualized estates to exploring new features like vSphere Trust Authority, vExpert Security members are leading the charge to keep VMware environments safe.

vExpert VCF Subprogram – Mastering VMware Cloud Foundation

The vExpert VCF subprogram shines a spotlight on experts in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), VMware’s integrated SDDC (Software-Defined Data Center) platform. VMware Cloud Foundation brings together vSphere (compute), vSAN (storage), NSX (networking & security), and Aria/VCF Manager (cloud management and automation) into a single, cohesive solution for building private and hybrid clouds. In essence, VCF is the full VMware stack in one package, enabling enterprises to run a cloud-like infrastructure on-premises with ease of lifecycle management. As more organizations adopt hybrid cloud strategies and seek a unified platform to run both traditional and modern applications, Cloud Foundation expertise is in high demand. The vExpert VCF subprogram recognizes those experts and gives them a direct line to the Cloud Foundation BU.

Focus Area & Relevance: vExpert VCF is all about end-to-end data center modernization. Members of this subprogram are typically adept in multiple VMware domains – they understand compute, storage, networking, and cloud operations holistically. The focus is on designing, deploying, and operating VMware Cloud Foundation environments. This could range from setting up management clusters with the VMware Cloud Builder tool, to configuring workload domains, to integrating VCF with public cloud or automation pipelines. Given that VCF underpins VMware Cloud on Dell EMC and is foundational to VMware Cloud on AWS offerings, expertise here is extremely relevant to anyone building a hybrid cloud. By gathering specialists in one place, the subprogram facilitates deep technical exchange on topics like multi-cloud connectivity, SDDC Manager best practices, upgrades and patching across the stack, and more. If you are excited about the entire VMware ecosystem and how it works together as a platform, vExpert VCF is the ideal arena.
Eligibility: Like all subprograms, you must be a 2025 vExpert to apply for vExpert VCF. The ideal applicant will have a proven history of working with Cloud Foundation or at least multiple VMware products in an integrated way. Perhaps you’ve documented your journey in deploying a VCF home lab, contributed to automation scripts for VCF, or helped your organization implement a private cloud using VMware’s full stack – these are the kinds of experiences that showcase your Cloud Foundation know-how. Since VCF is a broad platform, don’t be intimidated if you haven’t touched every component; demonstrating breadth and integration insight is key. Highlight any community contributions related to VCF or SDDC: blogs, whitepapers, VMUG sessions, or even activity in forums helping others troubleshoot VCF. The selection committee (often including VMware’s Cloud Foundation team representatives) will be looking for vExperts who can advocate and educate others about the benefits of an integrated VMware cloud.
Community Contribution & Benefits: As a vExpert VCF, you become an authority on VMware Cloud Foundation within the community. This means you’ll likely be creating content that demystifies the complexity of VCF. For example, you might publish a series of articles on upgrading VCF releases, share reference architectures for VCF deployment, or answer community questions on how to leverage VCF in various scenarios. You’re also encouraged to speak at events (vBrownBags, VMUGs, etc.) about Cloud Foundation use-cases and lessons learned. On top of your contributions outwardly, being in this subprogram gives you direct collaboration with VMware’s Cloud Foundation BU. VMware assigns product team liaisons to each subprogram, so expect opportunities for things like early access beta tests, NDA roadmap webinars, and feedback sessions with the engineers. This two-way street is immensely valuable: you can bring community insights to VMware (influencing future VCF features or improvements) and bring knowledge back out to the community (keeping vExperts up-to-date on the latest in VCF). By participating, you effectively become a trusted advisor in the Cloud Foundation space – both to your peers and to VMware. This subprogram is a fantastic fit for cloud architects and data center veterans who want to shape the next generation of VMware’s SDDC solutions.

In summary, vExpert VCF recognizes those who operate at the pinnacle of VMware integration. If you relish working with the full stack and guiding others through that journey, this subprogram will feel like home. You’ll be among peers who love nothing more than discussing workload domains, stretch clusters, and API automation for the SDDC – and you’ll have VMware’s own experts on speed dial to support your endeavors.

How to Apply and Next Steps

Feeling excited about these subprograms? Now is the time to act! Applications for the 2025 vExpert subprograms are officially open (typically for a limited window), so don’t miss your chance to apply. Here’s how to get started:

Ensure you’re a 2025 vExpert: Only recipients of the vExpert 2025 award are eligible to join subprograms. If you haven’t received the vExpert title this year, set a goal to earn it in the next cycle – the subprograms will be waiting for you!
Visit the vExpert Application Portal: Log in to the vExpert Portal and navigate to the Subprograms section. There, you’ll find the list of available subprograms (including PRO, Security, VCF, and others like NSX, vSAN, etc.) and the application forms for each. You can apply to more than one subprogram if you qualify, so choose all that align with your expertise.
Complete the subprogram application: The application will typically ask for details on your relevant contributions and experience in the focus area. Be specific – this is your chance to shine. For example, if applying to vExpert Security, highlight that NSX security blog series you wrote; for vExpert VCF, talk about the lab setup you shared on your YouTube channel. Demonstrate your passion and knowledge in the domain.
Leverage your vExpert PROs: If you need guidance or feedback on your application, remember that vExpert PROs (those mentors we talked about) are there to help. Reach out to a PRO in your region for advice – they can review your application and ensure it meets the expectationsvexpert.vmware.comvexpert.vmware.com. Don’t hesitate; they’re a friendly bunch, and part of their mission is to assist applicants like you!

Once submitted, your application will be reviewed by the respective VMware Business Unit leads and the vExpert team. Announcements for subprogram memberships usually follow not long after the vExpert awards. Keep an eye on your email and the vExpert blog for updates.

Why apply?

Because joining a vExpert subprogram can be a game-changer for your professional growth. You’ll gain recognition as a subject-matter expert, unlock new networking opportunities (imagine collaborating with VMware product managers and like-minded experts worldwide), and get access to exclusive content that keeps you ahead of the curve. It’s also incredibly rewarding – you’ll be contributing to the community at a higher level and helping shape the direction of VMware technologies.

In the spirit of the vExpert program, we encourage every eligible vExpert to take this next step. Whether you become a mentor through vExpert PRO, a security champion, a Cloud Foundation guru, or all of the above, your efforts will strengthen the VMware community as a whole. So polish up those applications and hit submit! The 2025 vExpert subprograms await your talent and enthusiasm. Good luck, and we can’t wait to welcome the new cohort of subprogram vExperts!

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