Where IT happens….is where I’m going.

The past 7 years have been some of great change in my career. Always one to just kinda “go with the flow” and see what interested me, these past few years have been different.

In 2005 I was bugging people about VMware. I had used it sporadically in a previous job and saw the value right away for security. In 2009, I decided to do something about it and through some serious pushing and a very interesting chance meeting, I became RSA’s virtualization evangelist. (and an honorary vSpecialist!)

I got thrust from a “behind the scenes” role into one of meeting with C-level people and explaining to RSA and EMC customers about virtualization and security. In 2011, after assisting in many integrations of RSA products into the virtualized infrastructure (enVision, Archer, Authentication Manager, etc.) I was welcomed onto the product architecture team in addition to my evangelist role. I think I’ve come a long way.

It’s been a wild trip. I’ve talked to thousands of people, countless EBC sessions and fought hard for what I thought was the right way to do things. A far cry from my first role at RSA.

But now it’s time to take that knowledge and apply it elsewhere! So, as of January 7^th, I’ll be a VMware employee working in the Technical Marketing organization.

What’s great about this is I’m not joining a group where I know nobody and nobody knows me. I’ll be working with THE BEST technical marketing group in the industry. Names many of you recognize just by first name alone. Alan, Frank, William, Cormac, Rawlinson and many others. Having been a bit of an Army of One for so many years, I’m SO looking forward to collaborating with this team on some great things. I work better when challenged and have like minded folks to bounce ideas off of.

I’ll be focusing my energies on the security of the core platform (vSphere). I’ll be working from home with regular trips to Palo Alto and I’ll be seeing many of you at VMUGs and VMworlds around the world.

As someone who has done a 100 mile per day commute for 7 years, I’m very much ready to work from home. I know, it’s not without its challenges, but I want to make it work. My kids are at the ages (10 & 7) where I was missing a lot of their activities like games and recitals. I relish the ability to be there for them. My family is everything to me.

The challenges will be immense. I envision the workload to be like a large wave that I better catch! I just hope I can paddle fast enough to get up on the board!

Thank you to all those at RSA who helped me get where I am today. I hello to my soon to be fellow VMware mates. I look forward to making something cool happen like you do almost every day.

mike