Last week I created the VMware LinkedIn Groups and received a lot of positive responses. One reaction caught my eye, it was a message from Robin Prudholm asking me if he could join the VCP group with VCP number 52. My first thought was “Wow VCP number 52��?, I want to know more about that guy. One thing led to another and Robin was nice enough to answer a few questions. But first let’s start with a short introduction.
Robin Prudholm is a Senior Systems Engineer and Technical Spokesman for the Nordics at VMware for 3 years now, he lives nearby Copenhagen, Denmark. Robin has over 20 years of experience in the IT-industry.
I asked Robin if he experienced the VCP exam as difficult ?
Well, first exam was taken just after I got introduced to VMware and the fact that I was designated to be the first VMware instructor in the Nordics… I took the course with Richard Garsthagen and Brian Rice as trainers, and that did make it a bit easier as they both are top notch! Spend an additional 2 weeks reading like crazy (Linux part of it was all news to me, a long time MCSE with Windows as main focus) and took the test… Passed with 80% and had to have VUE reopen it, as I needed minimum 85% the VCI (*sigh*). Another week of intense studying and I was ready for another shot at it; passed with 92% (if memory serves me right, it is a while ago) and what a happy day… §;-)
Did being a VCP influence your career ?
It most certainly did… Being the first VCI in the Nordics and the only one doing training here for about a year, meant that I was able to build avery good network with all the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish partner engineers/consultants coming for the training. VMware was just starting up their business in this region at that time, so it gave me an opportunity to be part of the virtualization revolution from day one. When VMware needed their first Partner SE in the region, I was lucky enough to make the move to VMware and what a great move that has been! VMware is a fantastic company to work for; not only is the technology cutting edge and just world class, the one thing that strikes me working for this great company, is the quality of the people working here. I have never in my entire career worked with so many talented colleagues, it is a fantastic team and a great inspiration!
Denmark is one of the leading countries in Europe why ?
Well, not just Denmark, but the Nordics in general have always been very technology ready… Customers here are very quick to adopt and embrace new technology, to take advantage of the business benefits that it brings to the table. I think there are primarily 2 main reasons for this
a. Tax is very high in this region (also on business) and that means wages are comparatively higher here, then in the rest of Europe/US. This means Nordic companies have to find other ways of cutting costs to be able to compete internationally and adopting new technology with real impact on the bottom line faster than the competition is certainly one way to achieve this.
b. Generally the level of education in the Nordics is very high, and I think that makes it easier to explain to customers the benefits of new emerging technology.
I can share the happy feeling with Robin when passing the exam above the 85%, it took me three times. When you want to know more about VMware activity in the Nordics, you should visit http://www.vmug.dk using an online Danisch translator. 
