Ch-ch-ch-changes...
Category Announcements
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I have an announcement to make, but you need to sit down for it. Ready? Good.
About 13 years ago I started my IT career when I got a job with Lotus Development (pre-IBM days) doing Ami Pro (and eventually Word Pro/SmartSuite/Notes) support. Lotus was a fantastic place to work, and I made quite a few great friends there (many of whom I keep up with to this day). However, money was tight at Lotus back then - 1-2-3 was giving way to MS Excel, and Lotus Notes was just coming into its own. At one point the managers at Lotus came to us and told us that, while they didn't want to lay anyone off, they also would support anyone who wanted to leave - give a good recommendation, etc. I took this as a sign, and decided to test the waters in consulting. My 3 years at Lotus came to an end when I accepted a position with The Future Now (which became XLConnect, then XeroxConnect) as a Notes consultant. Shortly thereafter Lotus was bought by IBM, Notes/Domino took off with the marketing provided by IBM, and Lotus began to prosper once again.
Since my days at Lotus I have worked at large consultancies, small consultancies, startups, product companies, and have even started my own company - which is where I am at today. Well, it is time for a change again - it is time to bring on a new challenge, work with some new people, learn many new things, and in some ways return to where it all began.
I have accepted a position at IBM/Lotus Software.
I will be working as a Senior IT Architect on the Business Transformation Team. You can read more about this team in an interview with the director of the team, Sabine Schilg, here. I think it will be an exciting and challenging position, and I am really looking forward to diving into Workplace to discover all it has to offer - and I am also looking forward to sharing this with you, so that you too can learn to use Workplace in your environment as well.
Since I thought a few people might have questions about this change, I thought I would follow the time-honored Web tradition of creating a FAQ to help...
- You have a successful business - why would you leave that and go to work for IBM? Good question. There are quite a few reasons:
- I will get a steady paycheck. Right now business is good, but as all entrepreneurs know, business has its ups and downs. Working for IBM gives me stability, and this will be a nice change (especially with a family as large as mine).
- I get to learn a new technology and expand my skillset. I have made a great career as a Notes/Domino expert - but to be honest I am ready to learn something new. As an entrepreneur I don't really have the opportunity to learn new stuff - any hour spent learning something new is an hour I am not billing someone. This allows me to learn a completely new skillset and still draw a paycheck, and I get to use my existing Domino skills (this team currently doesn't have many Domino experts - they are mainly portal people) to contribute while learning the new stuff.
- This job puts me in contact with very well-placed companies. Our targets are IBM's top 100 clients, as well as key Microsoft clients. This is good exposure.
- Will you have to work in an office? No. One of the contingencies of me taking this offer is that I get to continue to work from my home, and in this position I get to set my own hours based on customer needs.
- Will there be more travel? Hard to say - but the nice part is that I am in control of it. I will travel based on client needs, just like I do now, so I don't believe I will be traveling any more than I am now - although there may be more initially as I get "assimilated" :)
- Will you still get to speak? Write? Blog? Yes. I will still be allowed to speak and write, and continue my blog. I will also continue to be involved in Lotusphere, possibly even more than I am now.
- Will you get to keep Sapphire Oak Technologies open? No, that is one drawback to this offer. Because of conflict of interest concerns, I will be closing down Sapphire Oak Technologies very soon. I have begun the transition of clients, and will be able to make a "clean break" sometime in mid-May, which is when I plan on starting at IBM.
- Will you still be involved in the Best Practices track at Lotusphere? (from Wild Bill) Yes, I will still be involved in the Best Practices track; in fact I may be more involved than in the past. More on that later.
If you have any other questions, please ask and I'll add them to the FAQ when appropriate.
I am really excited about this new endeavour, and I can't wait to share what I find out with you. While this is a new phase of my life, it does not mean that my involvement in the community will lessen - I am still a part of this community, I am still "one of you", I just happen to also be a part IBM now. I hope that my background as a business partner and Lotus Geek will allow me to speak to you in "our" language, and explain what Workplace really is, and how you can take advantage of it - as well as give IBM some insight into the challenges we face as developers using these technologies.
I also want to thank all of you, each and every one of you, for being here - working with me, criticizing when necessary, prodding when needed, helping often, and listening when desired. I can't wait to start on this new journey, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
Rock
**We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like? --Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963)
Blog Roll
Comments
Best of luck
Posted by Jason Hook At 09:01:24 AM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Glad to hear you will still be able to keep up the blog and the speaking gigs. I've attended a couple of your sessions in the past and you really have a gift to get the point across.
Can we expect a book on WorkPlace as excellent as the Bible on Notes
Posted by Scott At 08:37:55 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Are you still going to the Black Crowes in Asheville tomorrow? I saw Montgomery Gentry last night at the Asheville Civic Center -- pretty good show -- Eddie fell off the stage and broke his wrist!
As for you, break a leg! (Continue to) Do wonderful things for all of us!
Gary
Posted by Gary Roberts At 04:27:11 PM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Brian Benz At 11:38:30 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Tom At 03:45:18 PM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 08:37:32 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Chad At 08:06:41 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Colin Pretorius At 01:06:36 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Sounds like IBM knows what they're doing.
Good Luck to you, Rock. Looking forward to the Workplace news.
Posted by Curt Stone At 03:21:16 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
One more expert inside IBM who know how smaller businesses run. Teach them well!
Posted by Stephan H. Wissel At 09:05:47 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Ben Poole At 09:12:58 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
-rich
Posted by Richard Schwartz At 09:51:52 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Congratulations Rocky
Posted by kevin At 02:55:08 PM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Stefan Heinz At 12:46:19 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Let me know if you make it up to Cambridge/Westford sometime.
Chris
Posted by Chris Reckling At 05:41:42 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Maybe you will also have time to update the Domino Programming Bible for v7 and also do a "LotusScript Cookbook with O'Reilly"
Posted by Edwin Mpofu At 05:37:05 AM On 05/03/2005 | - Website - |
Congratulations - I'm jealous...I'd go back to Lotus tomorrow
Posted by Ben Rose At 11:58:51 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Jon At 09:11:35 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Good on ya !!
Posted by Mike Werner At 08:45:45 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Congrats and Good Luck with IBM. It is a great move and I wish ou all the best.
I came across one of your old blogs that says you are supposed to write an article for Advisor regarding "Using Formulas on web" but when i check with Advisor, i couldn't find any article by that name.. I am very much intrested in that article.. could you please tell me which edition or Adivsor has that article please..
Thanks,
Durga prasad
Posted by Durga Prasad At 10:46:25 AM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
@Julie - I was very fortunate in that IBM persued me. I have maintained many close friendships at Lotus since leaving, and have always actively worked to not only maintain, but expand my social and professional network inside IBM. I think that is why I was "on their radar" for this position.
I am able to work from my home because our team is a virtual team, spread out all over the world. Another reason is that, while there is technically an office in Atlanta, there is noone from our group in that office and it happens to be about 2 hours away from me - this makes it un-commutable in my eyes. My job is strictly customer focused, so if I am not at a customer site, it doesn't matter where I work.
I hope that answers your questions.
Thanks again, everyone!
Rock
Posted by Rock At 08:37:45 AM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Stan Rogers At 10:27:49 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Scott Good At 10:21:32 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'll continue to be tuned in here man... that is just neat!!
and congratulations sir!
Posted by jonvon At 02:20:31 PM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
Oh, and thanks to you (and everyone else!) for your encouraging and warm comments. I was worried how the community would take my returning to Lotus - would it be viewed as a "sellout" move? A "copout"? Would it be viewed as a weakening of the Domino support ("oooh, look - Rocky couldn't even cut it as a Domino developer, so he had to go back to corporate life!")?
First, let me assure you that my business has been booming. You can talk to people who know me, and they can attest to how busy I am - I have even referred work to other BPs because I simply can't do it all. In fact, my current "wave" of good business made this decision harder - but I remembered the slower times, and what it is like to not have a steady check, and that definitely helped balance the euphoria of good business I am currently experiencing.
Here's how I hope the community views my (re)joining IBM/Lotus: I want you to view it as you now have "one of us" on the inside. I have been a diehard BP and entrepreneur, and have experienced all the joys and concerns that go along with it. I grew up in the trenches of Notes/Domino, deploying servers, writing code, integrating with other systems, etc. so I do understand what it is like to be a developer and BP. I want to bring my experiences inside IBM/Lotus - to not only help my new customers, but to also help IBM gain more perspective on the needs and desires of the BP community.
However, I do want to say this: I do believe that IBM "gets" what BPs (and ultimately clients) need more now than they have in the past. I believe that the new features, new pricing models, new training initiatives, new marketing effort, the improvements in Lotusphere, and the new focus and rededication to Notes/Domino all point to an organization that rediscovered its BP base. Additionally, I truly believe that their willingness to seek out and hire someone like me (and their persistence at doing it - this has taken over 6 months to get done, as alluded to by Ed Brill) is yet another example of this understanding that the BPs are a valuable commodity.
So, while my focus will change, and my official "status" may change, my membership and participation in this valuable community will remain as strong and viable as ever.
Thanks again for all of your support - it means the world to me
Rock
Posted by Rock At 11:34:31 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
I so much enjoyed and got a lot from the Lotusphere sessions you've given over the last couple years, and I hope you'll be that involved or even more in future ones!
I'm glad you'll be able to give us your insider view of how we can work with Workplace along with our current Notes/Domino apps and skills...
Congrats again!
Posted by Anonyman At 08:34:49 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Any company is lucky to have you come on board.
Posted by Jess Stratton At 09:33:43 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Congrats, Rock, and the best of luck in your new endeavors.
Posted by Don Callaway At 11:54:04 AM On 05/03/2005 | - Website - |
Maybe we should have a Haiku contest as you go back to blue
Posted by Christopher Byrne At 09:44:47 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Volker Weber At 11:00:33 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
As for the BP Track - yes, I will still be involved in the Best Practices track; in fact I may be more involved than in the past. More on that later.
In a similar vein someone asked at Ed's blog what this means for the CULT shirt. Luckily my boss has a collection of CULT shirts, so he is well aware of them
Rock
Posted by Rock At 08:44:01 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl At 09:06:33 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Best of luck! I hope you bring to them more culture than they bring to you!
Posted by Andrew Pollack At 09:14:13 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Marco and Markus from Germany!!
Posted by marco foellmer At 01:39:56 PM On 04/29/2005 | - Website - |
If your new work takes you to Europe this summer, give me a shout! I'll surely make time to hit the pubs with you.
- Paul -
Posted by Paul Ryan At 02:46:55 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Paul Moooney At 04:22:14 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by David Bockes At 08:47:07 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Hopefully this move will be just as enriching (in all ways) as that first move was. :)
Posted by Adam Slagle At 11:32:06 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
I'm incredibly geeked about Workplace myself, and I look forward to all of your insight in that realm going forward!
Rock on Rocky!
-Grey
Posted by Greyhawk68 At 10:40:07 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Duffbert At 06:13:53 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
I have to agree, working for Lotus when it was at its peak was a good time.
All the best of luck with the new job.
Howard
Posted by Howard Shevitz At 07:12:36 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Sean---
Posted by Sean Burgess At 11:35:02 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Rod Stauffer At 04:28:43 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
So will we see a Workplace Bible book written by you next?
Posted by Kevin At 10:23:12 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Michael Bourak At 09:06:46 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
I'm in a similar situation with my own consulting business (Notes predominantly) and know about those ups and downs. I work from home (right now) and am in the Greenville, SC area where there isn't a big technology industry, but due to my spouses' job am not really interested in moving. How did your new job come about? Did they pursue you or you pursue them? And how did you end up with the staying in your location and work from home sweet deal? Does IBM have a big office your area or is the team a virtual team in all different locations? Well good luck with your new venture.
...Julie
Posted by Julie Snyder At 09:11:45 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Rock on....
Bruce
Posted by Bruce Elgort At 08:35:58 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Congrats Rocky. Thanks for all of your contributions to us "Lotus Geeks". I'm looking forward to your insight of these next-gen products.
Posted by Brian Green At 12:09:18 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
You are certainly in a position to help the rest of us evaluate Workplace and how it fits in the world of Notes/Domino.
Good Luck!
Posted by Ed Maloney At 08:06:03 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by John Baxter At 09:32:30 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
I would be delighted if this means a future Domino Designer embraces Model Driven Development, UML and the like...
Posted by Alain H Romedenne At 07:51:31 AM On 05/17/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by tq At 02:36:19 PM On 09/21/2005 | - Website - |
That's how my parents raised me and it's still what I believe!
Whilst the closing door is obviously Sapphire Oak Technologies and your "complete freedom" to blog about anything and everything (there is a slight note of sarcasm and a lack of understanding regarding "freedom of speach" in the US based on things that have happened in past few weeks in the Domino blogging community
Whilst we understand that there are going to be some things you may not be able to blog about - or other issues that you will have to curtail your enthusiasm for - I'm sure you'll "fly the flag" in the familiar Rocky way (if there had been a mountain in there we'd have the title of a Joe Walsh classic)!
Actually, looking at the words of that song, you could draw some interesing analogies!
"Spent the last year
Rocky Mountain Way
Couldn't get much higher
Out to pasture
Think it's safe to say
Time to open fire
And we don't need the ladies
Crying 'cuz the storie's sad
'Cuz the Rocky Mountain Way
Is better than the way we had
Well he's tellin' us this
And he's tellin' us that
Changes it every day
Say's it doesn't matter
Bases are loaded and Casey's at bat
Playin' it play by play
Time to change the batter
And we don't need the ladies
Crying 'cuz the storie's sad, uh huh
Rocky Moutain Way
Is better than the way we had
Hey, hey, hey, hey"
All the best in your new job. Let us know "how it is on the inside"!
Posted by TheOldGit At 09:58:32 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
http://www.edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/welcome-back-rocky
Posted by Ed Brill At 10:26:48 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Congrats Rocky and all the best.
Posted by Ashish Sidapara At 09:27:51 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Almar Diehl At 03:40:17 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by Michael Sobczak At 01:20:26 PM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Had to check the date to be sure April 1st had passed (hush up over there, Carl). Already got caught once this year.
Posted by Tim Latta At 11:13:31 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
(Hey, I'm kidding, dont flame me Ed.. !)
But. Does this mean they'll have to find - gasp! - someone else to run the hugely successful best practices track at Lotusphere ?
---* Bill
Posted by Wild Bill At 08:19:49 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
it was good to sit down before reading
But it is a great news. I'm happy to see you in this position as a new co-worker as i work for IBM Germany and Domino IT-Specialist
Looking foreword to mail with you internally.
Wish you all the best for your new Job.
HaPe
Posted by Hanspeter Jochmann At 04:16:07 AM On 04/28/2005 | - Website - |
Congratulations !! We're passing in the night - you're leaving the entrepreneurial ranks as I'm coming back.
Good luck to both of us.
Neil.
Posted by Neil Agate At 10:21:21 PM On 04/27/2005 | - Website - |