What VMUG does

VMUG (VMware User Group) is an independent, global, customer-led organization founded in August 2010 and headquartered in Franklin, United States. It serves a community of 150,000+ IT professionals across 187+ countries, running 336 local and global events per year. The organization is purpose-built for practitioners working with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF), and adjacent virtualization, multi-cloud, and emerging AI/Private AI technologies, addressing peer knowledge sharing, certification, and career development needs.

The product surface consists of a tiered membership model (VMUG Free and VMUG Advantage at $639/year), the VMUG Connect multi-day paid conference series held in five global cities, local chapter meetings, virtual events and webcasts, an on-demand video hub, and hands-on labs. VMUG Connect events deliver 56+ hours of content across four tracks (Build Better, Real Stories, Grow/Adapt/Lead, Lab It) and include on-site VMware certification exams for Advantage members. Content is curated by a member-led Board of Directors and local leaders rather than by the central staff.

Revenue is generated through three streams: paid event tickets ($250-$630 per pass), Advantage membership subscriptions, and sponsorships from a multi-tier partner ecosystem. Broadcom is the Flagship strategic partner following its acquisition of VMware; Intel, Valicyber, and comdivision hold Diamond sponsor status; and a broader Partner tier includes AWS, Google Cloud, IBM, Zerto, Rackspace, CDW, WWT, and others. With 11-50 employees, VMUG operates a lean central team that relies on volunteer leadership to scale community engagement, and it maintains co-marketing relationships with VMware Explore and other industry events.

Name

VMUG

Legal name

VMUG

Website

https://vmug.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

VMUG is an independent, customer-led global community of 150,000+ IT professionals centered on VMware virtualization, monetizing through paid memberships, multi-city conferences, and a tiered sponsor ecosystem anchored by Broadcom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Franklin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Tickets: Revenue from paid multi-day VMUG Connect events. Tickets range from $250-$630 depending on location and membership status. Early bird pricing available with discounts for multiple team members.
2. VMUG Advantage Membership: Annual membership providing VIP access to events including free on-site certification exams, exclusive content, custom swag, and other perks. Membership can be bundled with event passes.
3. Sponsorships: Partner sponsorship opportunities at VMUG Connect events targeting VMware users, IT professionals, and decision makers. 65% of VMUG members have purchased or are planning to purchase VCF/VVF.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VMUG is an independent, global, customer-led organization that runs a paid membership community for VMware and IT virtualization professionals. It sells annual memberships (VMUG Advantage and VMUG Free), paid multi-day in-person conferences (VMUG Connect across five global cities), local chapter meetings, virtual events, webcasts, and an on-demand video library, with revenue supplemented by partner sponsorships from Broadcom, Intel, AWS, Google Cloud, and other ecosystem vendors.

Product overview

VMUG (VMware User Group) is an independent, global, customer-led organization launched in August 2010, focused on empowering technologists through knowledge sharing, training, collaboration, and events centered on VMware Cloud Foundation and broader virtualization technologies. The organization operates on a membership model with two tiers: VMUG Advantage (premium) and VMUG Free (basic), offering access to events (VMUG Connect multi-day conferences and Local Chapter Meetings), virtual events and webcasts, and an On-Demand Video Hub. VMUG Connect events feature four distinct content tracks (Build Better, Real Stories, Real Impact, Grow Adapt Lead, and Lab It) and include hands-on labs, certification exams, panel discussions, and networking experiences across five global locations annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VMUG Connect: Multi-day paid event format featuring technical deep dives, networking, VMware certification exams, and content tracks for IT professionals
• VMUG Advantage
• VMUG Free
• VMUG x VMware Explore
• Local Chapter Meetings

Products and services

• VMUG Advantage Annual premium membership for IT virtualization professionals providing free on-site VMware certification exams at Connect events, exclusive content, custom swag, and VIP access. Targeted at engaged VMware administrators, engineers, and IT leaders.
• VMUG Free Free basic membership tier providing access to VMUG community resources, local chapter meetings, virtual events, and 50% off VMware certification exams. Targeted at IT professionals exploring the VMware community.
• VMUG Connect Multi-day paid in-person conferences held in five global locations annually (Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Toronto, Dallas, Orlando), featuring 56+ hours of technical content across four tracks, hands-on labs, VMware certification exams, and networking. Targeted at VMware administrators, platform engineers, and IT executives.
• VMUG Local Chapter Meetings Regional in-person user group meetings organized by volunteer local leaders, enabling face-to-face peer knowledge sharing and networking within specific geographic communities.
• Virtual Events Online virtual events such as the June 25 Global Virtual Event covering VCF 9.1, automation, and Private AI topics, delivered via Zoom with live sessions and Q&A.
• Webcasts On-demand and live webcast programming featuring VMware and partner technologies, technical deep dives, and industry insights delivered by experts.
• On-Demand Video Hub Self-serve repository of recorded sessions and educational video content covering virtualization, cloud infrastructure, and professional development topics.
• VMware Hands-On Labs Guided technical lab sessions held at VMUG Connect events where attendees can experiment with and test the latest VMware technology platforms with expert guidance.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and partner.

• BroadcomflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2010Broadcom is the primary technology partner for VMUG. The organization focuses on VMware Cloud Foundation and broader VMware technologies. Broadcom leadership participates in VMUG Connect events with direct access to end users. VMUG Connect events feature exclusive content and sessions from Broadcom on VCF 9, migration planning, and data center solutions.
• IntelcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntel is a Diamond Partner sponsor of VMUG Connect events. Intel provides technology infrastructure support for the VMware ecosystem community events and initiatives.
• ValicybercoreTechnology or IntegrationValicyber is a Diamond Partner sponsor of VMUG Connect, providing cybersecurity solutions for the VMware virtualization ecosystem. Supports the VMUG community with visibility at events.
• comdivisioncoreTechnology or Integrationcomdivision is a Diamond Partner and Platinum sponsor of VMUG Connect, offering VMware-related technology solutions and services to the community.
• Google CloudpartnerTechnology or IntegrationPartner sponsor supporting the VMUG community and ecosystem with cloud infrastructure integration and solutions.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)partnerTechnology or IntegrationAWS is a partner sponsor providing cloud infrastructure expertise and multi-cloud solutions relevant to VMware professionals in the VMUG community.
• Rackspace TechnologypartnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRackspace Technology is a partner sponsor offering VMware deployment and managed services expertise to the VMUG community.
• CDWpartnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCDW is a partner sponsor providing technology procurement and solutions distribution for VMware environments serving the VMUG community.
• World Wide Technology (WWT)partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWWT is a partner sponsor offering technology solutions, integration services, and procurement support for VMware environments.
• IBMpartnerTechnology or IntegrationIBM is a partner sponsor providing enterprise technology solutions and integrations relevant to the VMware ecosystem community.
• ZertopartnerTechnology or IntegrationZerto is a partner sponsor offering disaster recovery and data protection solutions for VMware environments.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• VMware Explore: Broadcom's flagship annual conference for the VMware ecosystem. VMUG has formal presence here (booth, sessions by Executive Director Brad Tompkins, $100 Advantage member discount), and VMware Explore is the primary vendor-run alternative competing for the same audience and sponsor dollars as VMUG Connect.
• Spiceworks: Online community and content platform for IT professionals, combining free peer-to-peer forums, vendor content, and IT tools. Comparable to VMUG in serving enterprise and SMB IT practitioners with a community-led model that monetizes via advertising/sponsorship rather than paid tickets.
• PASS (SQL Server Community): Long-running independent professional association for Microsoft data platform professionals, structured similarly to VMUG with local chapters, paid summit events, and vendor sponsorship. Provides a near-analogous model of a vendor-agnostic tech user group.

Broad incumbents

• Linux Foundation Events (KubeCon + CloudNativeCon): Operates KubeCon/CloudNativeCon and other large-scale open-source community events. Comparable to VMUG in running multi-track community-led conferences for a specific technology stack, but at a much larger scale and serving the cloud-native ecosystem as a direct open-source alternative to VMware virtualization.
• Cisco Live: Cisco's annual global conference for network and IT infrastructure professionals. Comparable to VMUG Connect in format (multi-day, multi-track, certification exams, paid passes), but vendor-run and oriented around Cisco's portfolio.
• AWS re:Invent: Amazon Web Services' flagship annual conference. Comparable to VMUG Connect as a multi-day, multi-track enterprise IT conference with paid registration, certification offerings, and partner sponsorship — but vendor-led and orders of magnitude larger.
• Microsoft Ignite: Microsoft's annual IT professional conference for enterprise admins, developers, and architects. Comparable to VMUG in targeting enterprise IT decision-makers with technical content and certification, though vendor-run and broader in scope.
• O'Reilly Media: Technology learning platform offering books, videos, live online training, and conferences (O'Reilly Velocity, Strata). Comparable to VMUG as a paid content/training destination for IT professionals, with overlapping audience in infrastructure and cloud topics.

Emerging players

• DevOpsDays: Globally distributed series of community-organized DevOps events with a sponsor-supported model. Closely comparable to VMUG's community-led, volunteer-driven event format, and serves a portion of the same enterprise IT professional audience.
• Pluralsight: Subscription-based technology skills platform offering expert-led video courses and certification prep. Comparable to VMUG in serving IT professionals seeking virtualization, cloud, and infrastructure upskilling, but as a paid learning product rather than a community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MyVMUG
• Facebookfacebook.com/VMwareUserGroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about VMUG