A little over four years ago I wrote: “the best $1.80 I ever spent.” In that post I broke down the concept of what my value was and how I was no longer going to play by the rules. The organization that I joined on December 14, 2010 was Language Access Network. They let me break those rules and do great things. In coming to work there I took on the role of CTO and went from just a guy who does networks to being someone who the business looked to for ideas, strategy and vision. That has been HUGE for me. I have learned so much ranging from finances, to how to build a team and much more than I could ever cover here. I also got to learn why I really do what I do as I laid in this post. For me that was a turning point, not only in how I did my work for Language Access Network, but also how I saw my role in technology and society.
So it is with much regret that today I am writing to say that after more than four years working with a great team at Language Access Network and Carenection and building a team of amazing people, I am taking my leave. All the proper people have been notified, the resignation letter sent, the offer letter accepted and now all that is left is this – tell people where I am going and why I am going there.
So lets start with the where part. Beginning February 16, 2015 I will be employed by Brocade as a Practice Principle on the Professional Services Delivery Team. I can’t go into a lot of details about what I will be doing just yet, but you can bet you will be hearing about them as things progress. What I can say is that the opportunity with Brocade is going to let me help change the way we do networking in the future. As I stated in the post Why I do what I do. “Being driven by what you do is great, being driven by who you have helped is better.” So yes, I will be leaving a company whose entire ethos is to help others in a critical point in their lives and care, but I will be joining a team that is going to be helping people like me do their jobs better and more efficiently. That excites me. Add that to the All Star Team that Brocade is putting together around SDN, and it’s the perfect opportunity for me to move back into a technical role and do something else amazing in my career.
This is hard. It is hard leaving people who I really care about and a business that I have sunk my soul into over the past four years. It will be challenging (BUT THRILLING) to go back to being a tech again. But that’s OK because some of the best things in life are hard and if you put the effort into doing them well its worth it in the end.
So to my Team at Carenection – keep winning! You’re the best group of engineers I have had the opportunity to work with. To the Language Access Team – you make an amazing difference every day and I will miss hearing about the wins. And for me… a challenge awaits.