Larger Stage, Louder Mic

Close your eyes and think of something you really want — whether it’s something you want to accomplish, a must-have “toy”, or anything you wish you had but weren’t really sure how you’d get it.  Sometimes that incredible thing you get isn’t something you were actively pursuing.  Sometimes it is.  I closed my eyes and did this very exercise a little less than 6 years ago.  I was at a great point in my career at Lockheed Martin and had established myself relatively well.  But I was ready for that thing.  So I closed my eyes…and when I opened them, I found myself sitting in my very own cube (with a view!) at VMware’s Public Sector HQ in Reston, VA.  I was suddenly at my favorite little tech company that had already changed the world (at least once)…and was ramping up to do it again.

Okay so maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. There were a few interviews and several great conversations, but never did anyone have to do any convincing…I wanted in!  Ever since I joined VMware back in 2009, I knew I was suddenly a part of something huge.  My Lockheed career had been such an incredible period of my life and a significant part of developing my skills up to that point, but I often found myself wanting to grow my career and head in a direction that I wasn’t sure Lockheed was ready to support.  I was a little fish…the sea was massive.

One of the things that drew me to VMware was the culture…kind of a big deal for anyone looking for a solid place to land.  I knew right away from the moment I met the hiring manager that a good work ethic, integrity, and a lot of passion for what I do would pave the way to do bigger and badder things as I grew with the business.  From what I can tell, I’ve delivered my part and my leadership has responded precisely as I had hoped – by providing a foundation in which I can grow my career and make big things happen in relatively little time.  Today, I basically bleed VMware blue.  Recently I had another “what’s next?” moment.  But this time i skipped all the eye closing 🙂

I’d like to formally announce my next big move: I will be joining our go-to-market business (aka tech marketing) as Principal Solution Architect for our Cloud Management portfolio of products starting September 1st, 2015.  This incredible, global opportunity brings with it a couple firsts – It’s my first “corporate” role since joining VMware and the first time I won’t be directly aligned with our Public Sector customers (all in all, it’s been a 16-yr run supporting the US Public Sector).  It’s going to be an interesting transition, but one that I’m confident I will rapidly embrace.

So what will I be doing?  In a nutshell, the go-to-market (GTM) team is responsible for driving growth and adoption of VMware’s leading products and solutions through various innovative means.  I will be joining an amazing leadership team to help define how we build, differentiate, integrate, and deliver our cloud management and automation solutions as a critical component of the Software-Defined Datacenter.  My focus will predominately be vRealize Automation (vRA, including app services), vRealize Orchestrator (vRO), vRealize Code Stream (vRCS), and whatever else we may or may not be brewing 😉  That should not be of any surprise since this has already been my focus in the field.  But now I’ll be knee-deep and hyper-focused on this stuff.  I promise to bring innovation, creative ideas, and proven methodologies to the Cloud Management BU, the VMware global field, and — most importantly — our customers and partners.  I’m a passionate advocate for all our customers and I will take on this role with that continuing to be a top priority.

I am so looking forward to working with my new team and servicing the VMware community in ways I haven’t been able to do before.  Be on the lookout for many great things to come!

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@virtualjad