We were tasked to deposition Microsoft’s biggest competitor in the private cloud space—VMware. The proposition was that VMware’s cloud offering was dated and no longer relevant to the needs of our audience. What better way to demonstrate that than by taking a look at an IT sales guy who was also stuck in the past. Enter Tad, top salesman for VMlimited. Tad claims he’s selling a cloud solution, but really he’s selling nothing more than virtualization. To bring VMware’s…I mean VMlimited’s shortcomings to the forefront, we placed Tad on a TED-style stage usually reserved for speakers touting innovation and pushing progress. The contrast strengthened the claims Microsoft wanted to get across. Tad’s attempt to deliver some deep, thought-provoking cloud wisdom falls short and only highlights the deficiencies of his cloud solution. The landing environment that housed Tad’s Talk and the advertising that drove to it had to be as retro as Tad himself. Online, animated GIFs drove people to a dated conference page that contained mind-blowing ideas to the power of infinity.