So Long Status Quo
Published on 28 Dec 2009 · Filed in Personal · 567 words (estimated 3 minutes to read)Fans of Christian artist Nichole Nordeman will recognize the title of this post as a line coming from the chorus of her hit song “Brave” (from the album of the same name). The words go something like this:
So long status quo, I think I just let go…
I think that these words are particularly applicable given the decision that I’ve just made. Talk about letting go of the status quo! You see, for the largest part of my professional career I’ve worked in the partner/reseller community. Working in the partner/reseller community has been great; you get to meet lots of different people, work in a variety of environments, and constantly chase the latest technologies. Still, the demands of the partner/reseller community almost force you, as a technical person, to be “a mile wide but only an inch deep,” meaning you know only a little bit about a lot of things. That can be difficult for some people, like me, who like to really know products. A lot of times, you just don’t get the time to do that. In a couple of weeks, though, all that changes.
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be joining EMC Corporation as a VMware-Cisco Solutions Principal. Yes, that’s right—I’m joining Chad’s team (sometimes referred to as “Chad’s Army”). I can’t tell you yet if I’m a warrior, a monk, a warrior-monk, or something else entirely; I imagine that will be just one of many things that I will discover in the coming months and years.
I can tell you that I’m very excited. As indicated by my job title, I’ll be focusing on VMware-Cisco-EMC and where these three companies converge. That means lots of exposure to Vblocks and other cool technologies that smart people in Hopkinton, San Jose, and Palo Alto are building right now as I write. Of course, I’ll be working directly with the VMware specialists on Chad’s team. If you’ve met some of these guys, you’ll know what a treat that is—there is some great talent on this team.
You might be wondering how this will affect my blogging. That was a concern that I shared while discussing this opportunity. The bottom line is that it won’t. I won’t let it. Sure, you’ll see a new disclaimer appear in the sidebar and on the About page that indicates this is a personal blog and not an EMC blog, etc., but otherwise my goal is to continue to share solid, helpful technical content with my readers. I intend to continue to provide viewpoints that are as impartial as possible, and to live up to Steve Chamber’s comments about being an anti-protocol passionista. I’m sure that I will be accused of being an EMC fanboy (that started months ago!) or a VMware fanboy, but I do aim to be as impartial and even-balanced as I possibly can be. Of course, I am human and prone to error from time to time, so don’t be too harsh on me.
To all my friends and colleagues at ePlus, it has been a tremendous pleasure working with you. Many of you I have known personally and worked with for more than ten years. It’s like we are family! I will sincerely miss your friendship and your support. ePlus is a great company with some fantastic talent, and I wish ePlus and all of you nothing but the best!
So long, status quo…