From October 12 to 15, 2026, Malta hosted the Parallels VIPP Summit 2026, the annual gathering of the Very Important Parallels Professional (VIPP) program. This edition carried a special meaning: the program celebrated its tenth anniversary, and I am proud to say I have been part of it since day one.
Ten years is a long time in this industry. Products have changed names, architectures have moved from the datacenter to the cloud and back to hybrid, yet the spirit of the program has stayed the same: a direct, honest channel between the people who build Parallels products and the people who deploy them in the field every day.
Face to face with the Parallels team
What makes the VIPP Summit different from a traditional conference is the level of access. Over these days, we had the chance to work closely with the entire Parallels product organization: the development teams on one side, and the marketing and strategy teams on the other.
The presence of CEO Christa Quarles gave the event an additional dimension. Hearing the company vision directly from its leadership, and being able to discuss it openly, is something few vendor programs offer to their community.
The sessions covered:
- Product roadmap: where the Parallels portfolio is heading in the coming months
- Company vision: the strategic direction Parallels is pursuing and how the products fit into it
- Open feedback: real-world scenarios, requests, and pain points brought by VIPPs from their own customer projects
VIPP Spotlight: an Azure Workbook for Parallels RAS
The agenda also included the VIPP Spotlight, a slot dedicated to community projects. Alongside Ryan Ververs-Bijkerk and Leee Jeffries with their Automation Framework, and Ryan Mangan with the Community RAS MCP Server, I presented my project: an Azure Workbook for Parallels RAS.
The idea came from a simple need. More and more organizations want to manage and monitor their infrastructure directly from the cloud, without maintaining separate dashboards or on-premises reporting tools. The workbook addresses exactly this scenario:
- Data collection: it gathers information from the Parallels RAS farm
- Visualization: it turns that data into charts, tables, and views ready to consume
- Cloud-first operations: it gives administrators who run their infrastructure in Azure everything they need to keep the farm under control from a single place
The result is a native Azure experience for RAS monitoring, built on tools that cloud teams already know and use daily.
Ten years of community
Beyond sessions and roadmaps, the Summit is above all about people. Many of the VIPPs I met in Malta are colleagues I have known for a decade, people I have shared projects, discussions, and plenty of troubleshooting with. Celebrating ten years of the program together, with a #10 shirt and VIPP gear to mark the occasion, was a nice touch.
Conclusion
The Parallels VIPP Summit 2026 confirmed the value of a program built on trust and direct dialogue. Ten years after its launch, VIPP is still the place where product teams and field experts meet, challenge each other, and shape what comes next. My thanks go to the Parallels team for the organization and to all the VIPPs for the conversations. Here’s to the next ten years.