PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2026

Joe Houghes is a leader of the Denver VMware, PowerShell, and Veeam User Groups. He is a Field Solutions Architect with Pure Storage and focuses on automating us out of typical IT operations while freeing us to perform higher-level tasks.

Joe was the #1 speaker internationally for VMUG from 2021-2024 for virtual and in-person events. He is continually working to help & encourage the next community speaker(s) to take his place while helping to get them started.

Joe also works to evangelize the message that automation should be a focus for admins & engineers, even though it requires more in-depth thinking and focus beyond performing a task once. He knows that even though it is not always someone's default method, the result is repeatable and consistent.

Joe tries to help others understand why we should do the easy tasks better, and he challenges everyone to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and learn more about any topic of interest.

Joe is a collector of communities as a leader for three User Groups, and he's a member of various tech programs: Microsoft MVP, vExpert (Pro), Cisco Champion, Veeam Vanguard, Tanzu Vanguard, plus part of the vBrownBag crew. He tells people not to let fear keep them from sharing their knowledge with others and teaching from their unique perspective.

Joe works to leverage his brand and community presence to bring a focus around mental health topics to User Groups, conferences, and community events. He has another role within Pure and serving his local town through Dads of Castle Rock as a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor, and a very vocal champion of multiple mental health groups/programs.

Most of his professional skills and experience with community organization, event planning, fundraising, and public presenting are regularly leveraged in another role as the CTO and Mental Health Program Lead for the 501(c)3 non-profit that is run by his local Dads' group, the Dads of Castle Rock Community Outreach.

To put it simply, Joe simply tries to make a difference in any community where he can.

He's also pretty easy to spot by the brightly colored hat, big grin, and the loud "Howdy Y'all", which was proven out by the fact that Bigfoot saw Joe.

Occasionally you can unexpectedly hear him from a distance, and you'll get to share in the joy of knowing why he has a custom t-shirt acknowledging the "Snorts as a Service" that he sometimes delivers.