What is Veeam User Group?
Veeam User Group (VUG) is a community platform bringing together IT professionals who work with technologies and products from Veeam Software. It primarily focuses on backup, data recovery, and management solutions.
The goal of VUG is to support knowledge sharing and practical experience exchange among Veeam solution users. It organizes both physical and online professional meetings with technical presentations. It offers the opportunity to share experiences, knowledge, best practices, and build professional contacts among users. Thanks to direct support from Veeam company, participants often have the opportunity to meet with manufacturer representatives.
VUG members are truly people who work with Veeam technologies. Building contacts thus brings real value and enables obtaining useful information. Events are organized by the users themselves for other users, not by the manufacturer with a marketing focus.
VUG activities are organized and coordinated by a VUG Leader, who can become an active community member in a given country. Usually, this is an IT professional, consultant, or administrator working with Veeam technology. In the Czech Republic, the VUG Leaders are Antonín Strnad and David Ševčík. Significant organizational support is also provided by Nikola Pejková from Veeam company.
If you are interested in the field of backup, recovery, and cyber resilience, we would be happy if you join one of the upcoming VUG meetings. Register in the group on the official website VUG Czech Republic and follow community news.
VUG CZ In-Person Meeting
The meeting at Prague's Pankrác attracted over 50 registered participants not only from Prague but also from various corners of the Czech Republic, such as Plzen and Olomouc.
The pleasant welcome of participants at registration was handled by Nikola Pejková from Veeam and Dominika Brůnová from Arrow ECS, to whom we hereby thank for their help and kind introduction to the entire event.
From my own experience, I can say that the event was very successful. I participated in its organization, so my view might be somewhat biased, but the feedback from participants was clearly positive. After the official part ended, I spoke with many visitors and repeatedly heard recognition both for the professional program and quality of presentations, which were truly technical with minimal marketing, as well as for the pleasant conference hall environment and provided refreshments.
I believe that all participants took away not only new knowledge but also valuable contacts and inspiration for further work with Veeam solutions. I look forward to meeting at the next in-person meeting of VUG Czech Republic.
Program and Presentations
The afternoon program was opened by VUG Leaders Antonín Strnad and David Ševčík, who welcomed participants and briefly introduced the event program. The first presentation belonged to Dominika Brůnová from Arrow ECS, who briefly spoke about training opportunities in the field of Veeam technologies.
This was followed by a presentation from Impossible Cloud, a cloud object storage provider. The introductory part of the presentation was delivered by Martin Štětka and Štěpán Bínek, while the technical part was led by Marcel Jost, who demonstrated practical integration of their object storage with Veeam Backup & Replication solution.
Before the break, I had the opportunity to present my own presentation on the topic of backup storage security, where I described various types of technologies and their resistance to threats such as ransomware. This was an area I have been intensively focusing on for the past six months while searching for optimal storage for our company. The topic was too extensive, so I had to shorten some information and exceeded the allocated time.
After a short break, there was a very open and inspiring conversation with Jan Lát and Zdenek Piovarči from BENEŠ a LÁT a.s., a company that had been repeatedly hit by ransomware attacks in the past. They shared their experiences, crisis situation responses, and valuable lessons that can serve as inspiration for other IT administrators.
The program conclusion featured a brief introduction of the upcoming Veeam Backup & Replication 13 version. Due to illness, neither Martin Beran nor Boris Mittelmann from Veeam could attend, so Antonín Strnad took over this part.
Due to rich discussion regarding the experiences of BENEŠ a LÁT company, the program extended by approximately 45 minutes compared to the original plan. However, this apparently didn't bother the participants, as the atmosphere remained focused and interest in shared experiences didn't subside until the very last moment.
Community, Networking, and Informal Part
After the official program ended, an informal part followed, during which participants could engage in networking. In a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, we discussed practical experiences, deployment and management of Veeam solutions, but also community happenings and current challenges in the field of backup and cybersecurity.
I consider networking a very valuable part of every meeting. It enables building contacts with colleagues from the field, sharing practical experiences, and getting inspired by real solutions. These practical examples are often the best guide when implementing new technologies or functionalities.
The excellent refreshments were provided by the OKsystem team. We supplemented the offering with two types of beer from Břevnov Monastery Brewery of St. Adalbert.
Thanks to quality food, excellent beer, and a welcoming environment, the evening part was characterized by a relaxed atmosphere and friendly, lively discussion among participants.
Acknowledgments
Great thanks go to the event sponsors. Thanks to OKsystem company, the meeting took place in a modern conference hall with sufficient facilities for presentations and networking in the foyer. Also Veeam Software, Arrow ECS, and Impossible Cloud (its distributor Zebra Systems).
Considerable thanks also go to the event organizers and everyone who participated in its implementation directly on-site. Antonín Strnad, David Ševčík, and Nikola Pejková played key roles, but great thanks also go to others who helped ensure the smooth running of the entire meeting.
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