Learning by Doing: OVHcloud & Hands-On Labs
"Your turn to try!"
Attracting thousands of participants at VMware Explore 2025 in Las Vegas, this year’s Hands-on Labs (HOL) offered professionals the opportunity to explore VMware technologies firsthand. Backed by OVHcloud, the HOL was presented with a guided, cloud-hosted environment for an internationally scalable learning experience. As the #1 European cloud provider and a global cloud leader, OVHcloud is also the exclusive infrastructure partner for VMware Explore’s on-tour events across the world.
OVHcloud imparts its deep VMware expertise to deliver the high-performance, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure that powers every HOL session. Users are able to enjoy a seamless, immersive, and always-on learning experience — at scale.
“We’re proud to be the infrastructure partner powering VMware’s legendary Hands-on Labs — opportunities where new skills are forged, where innovation begins, and where ideas become action,” said Jeffrey Gregor, General Manager, OVHcloud US.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/1105552176
A Partnership of Scale, Reliability, and Excellence
Partners for over 15 years, the collaboration between OVHcloud and VMware by Broadcom goes beyond event sponsorship and into a much more technical capacity. OVHcloud expertise delivers cloud infrastructure at scale, meeting the intense demands of a live, global environment, as is demonstrated at VMware Explore.
In Las Vegas and beyond, the HOL sessions and on-tour editions were run on an environment architected and monitored by OVHcloud experts, all while they supported thousands of concurrent lab users worldwide. This includes the new VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF 9) labs — within which compute, networking, storage, and automation all run seamlessly on OVHcloud infrastructure — as they extend VMware’s global learning community.
“OVHcloud was the right infrastructure partner for powering these labs,” explained Marc Ray, Senior Cloud DevOps Engineer at OVHcloud US. “Our hardware capabilities and flexibility allowed us to automate deployments, optimize performance, and scale dynamically — all critical during a live event.”
VMware Cloud Director (VCD) at Scale
Making it all possible, the Hands-on Labs run on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) combined with VMware Cloud Director (VCD), which together orchestrate thousands of individual lab environments at once. VCD provides the control, automation, and resource management that allow each participant to launch a dedicated, fully featured lab environment in just seconds — complete with full isolation, high performance, and reliability. [Learn more about VCD.]
Building on this speedy success, OVHcloud has extended its use of VCD beyond the event by running it at scale for customers worldwide through its new Public VCF as-a-Service offering. This solution brings the same trusted architecture and operational excellence used in the Hands-on Labs to enterprises looking for flexible, high-performance VMware Cloud Foundation environments. With Public VCF as-a-Service, OVHcloud enables organizations to deploy VMware infrastructure on demand — with the same scalability, automation, and transparency that power VMware’s Hands-on Labs.
Inside the Infrastructure: Proven for Peak Performance
To support VMware Explore’s massive learning ecosystem, OVHcloud deployed a custom-engineered cloud platform designed to exceed VMware’s rigorous specifications.
HOL Configuration Overview:
- 37 dedicated servers across multiple OVHcloud datacenters
- 4.47 THz total CPU, 28.83 TB RAM, and 843.6 TB of NVMe VSAN storage (450 TB usable)
- Powered by Intel Cascade Lake processors and vSphere 8
- Fully managed through VMware Cloud Director (VCD) — the same foundation as OVHcloud’s Public VCF service
This configuration not only met but surpassed the HOL’s minimum requirements, ensuring ultra-low latency, high availability, and predictable performance even under heavy load.
“Our teams fine-tuned everything — from bandwidth and QoS optimization to automated scaling,” said Mike Burbach, Senior Manager of Private Cloud Computing at OVHcloud. “It’s a great example of what OVHcloud does best: delivering large, customized environments that perform flawlessly at scale.”
Cross-Continental Engineering Excellence
From architecture design to deployment, the success of the Hands-on Labs relied on tight coordination between OVHcloud and VMware engineering teams. Weekly global touchpoints ensured unified planning across regions, timelines, and teams — all built on transparency, technical rigor, and mutual trust.
“From the first meeting, it was clear we shared the same goal: creating an exceptional experience for everyone using VMware Labs,” Burbach added. “That alignment and expertise made all the difference.”
This close collaboration made it possible to deploy and validate a high-performing environment in record time — one that thousands of participants could instantly connect to, explore, and tear down safely between sessions.
“Within seconds of lab selection, users are connected to a validated environment,” explained Doug Baer, Solution Architect, Broadcom. “That seamlessness is powered by thoughtful design and trusted partnerships behind the scenes.”
Giving a Hand to the Hands-On Labs Community
Behind the technology itself lies an equally powerful community of experts, engineers, and volunteers dedicated to empowering learners.
Kelly Smith, Technical Engagement Manager for Hands-on Labs, described OVHcloud’s contribution as essential:
“Our goal is to make the infrastructure invisible. Thanks to OVHcloud, users can focus entirely on exploring VMware products — without friction or complexity getting in the way.”
Chris Horning, Staff Technical Account Manager, echoed this view:
“Having a partner like OVHcloud that can rapidly scale to meet demand — while ensuring consistent and predictable performance — is critical to our success.”
From technical volunteers like Catherine Skilling, who emphasized collaboration and community, to product leaders like David D’Antremont, who highlighted the breadth of content and innovation — every voice points reiterates the same message: the success of HOL depends on its infrastructure, but also on the people behind it.
HOL On Tour: Bringing the Experience to You
Following the flagship event in Las Vegas, VMware Explore On Tour brings the same immersive learning experience to cities around the world. These regional events extend the impact of Hands-on Labs, enabling professionals to engage with VMware technologies, meet local experts, and participate in live demos and technical sessions — all supported by OVHcloud’s global infrastructure.
For 2025, VMware Explore On Tour stops include major cities such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Sydney, Mumbai, and Tokyo, each hosting in-depth workshops, customer success stories, and opportunities to connect with the VMware and OVHcloud teams in person.
Wherever professionals join, the On Tour experience continues the same mission as Las Vegas: learning by doing, powered by collaboration and innovation.
From Las Vegas to the World: OVHcloud at the Heart of Global Learning
What starts at VMware Explore Las Vegas extends worldwide through the HOL On Tour program. Across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, the same cloud infrastructure — proudly powered by OVHcloud — enables professionals everywhere to experience VMware solutions firsthand. EMEA (London, Paris & Frankfurt) & APAC (Sydney, Mumbai & Tokyo)
This global reach underscores OVHcloud’s proven ability to deliver enterprise-grade VMware environments at scale, and anywhere in the world.
“Having a partner like OVHcloud ensures a seamless lab experience and helps make Explore a success, giving every attendee the performance they need for hands-on learning,” said David D’Antremont.
Conclusion: Hands Up to OVHcloud for Hands-On Labs
Providing opportunities to learn is how ideas are shaped, formed and spread. From concept to execution, the 2025 Hands-on Labs are a testament to what happens when engineering excellence meets purpose-built cloud infrastructure, and then sharing it with the wider public. Through its exclusive partnership with VMware by Broadcom, OVHcloud demonstrates its technical strength as well as its commitment to enabling innovation for thousands in the global VMware community.
The Hands-on Labs are living proof of OVHcloud’s expertise in building resilient, performant, and scalable cloud environments that make exploration possible for those ready to get hands-on.
“These labs aren’t just demos — they’re opportunities,” concluded Jeffrey Gregor. “They’re where innovation begins — and where ideas become action.”
Let’s give a hand for the future of Hands-On labs!
Learn More
🎥 WATCH Inside the Hands-on Labs VIDEO
Experience the innovation, scale, and community behind the OVHcloud-powered VMware Explore environment.
📅 Book a 1:1 meeting with OVHcloud experts at us.ovhcloud.com/lp/vmware-lab
💡 Explore VMware Hands-on Labs at labs.hol.vmware.com