Why VCE?

I was recently asked why I went to VCE.  Not why I left the City, but why I went to VCE, specifically.  After all, there are plenty of other companies out there looking for infrastructure types like me.  It’s a good question and here is my answer.

Before I can say “why VCE”, I need to provide some insight into my personality.  I have many traits associated with the stereotypical “computer guy”.  For starters, I am not the most socially adept.  Very few people would say that they would be friends with me based on first impressions.  I’m more like a fungus in that I grow on you.  It’s not that I have a bad personality, it’s just that it takes a while for people to “see me” (ala Avatar).

The second reason I’m that “computer guy” is that I like order.  While I don’t claim to be a neat freak, I do believe that most things in my house have a place, and when not in use, they should be in that place.  Even dust has a place in my house; on top of everything. 🙂   First comes Step A then comes Step B.  Order brings peace and harmony.

I also like the illusion of having control.  At the City, I was responsible for determining work assignments for my team, determining our server technology roadmap, and more.  While I truly didn’t have control, there was enough semblance of it to provide me a sense of serenity.

While on the topic of serenity, one word NOT used to describe me is excitable.  My wife will attest to the fact that I don’t get excited.  Now get your mind out of the gutter.  I am referring to high-energy when I say excitable.  I am pretty much on an even keel all the time.  I have my moments of emotion, but they are short lived.  You will see me smiling and laughing during conversation, but don’t expect me to yell at a bad call during a football game or scream out at a concert.

Do the words order, peace, harmony, and serenity describe VCE?  No, it is the exact opposite.  When my manager was recruiting me, I don’t think he realized his description of the position and company scared me.  He aptly described VCE as a startup.  And common to most startups is confusion, high-energy, and a bit of chaos.  Pretty much the exact opposite of my personality.

So why VCE?

If you read my last post, you’ll remember that I felt like I was becoming a “Day Tech”, something intolerable to me.  Due to the City’s high tolerance level for mediocrity, it became difficult to avoid becoming complacent at doing work that was “good enough”.  I don’t think that the City realizes that it doesn’t have high expectations of its employees.  Too many people get by on work that I would call subpar.

In my previous post, I also said that three areas of interest were virtualization, Cisco UCS, and storage.  When I was approached about joining VCE, I realized that I would be involved with those three technologies and I would also be thrust into an environment that was completely outside my norm.

So “Why VCE?”  After all I have said above, I am expecting VCE to “recharge my battery”.  By being in an environment that is constantly changing due to growth, has high expectations of its employees, and plays in the areas of my three interests, I figure I’ll find my motivation and passion again.  Either that or have a nervous breakdown  🙂

So “Why VCE?”  VCE also appealed to me to as an agent of change, a provider of the future, a blah blah blah (you get the idea).  Think about what VCE does.  It doesn’t just provide a hardware/software package.  VCE provides the next generation of computing, aka the cloud.  Even at the City, we talked a lot about the cloud and the future it holds.  I figured that if I was going to join a startup, I wanted it to be in an area where I thought the chances of success would be extremely high.  And of all the cloud computing companies out there, only one has the best servers, the best storage, and the best software.  That’s VCE.

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