With mixed emotions, this week I submitted my resignation to Cisco, a fantastic company with great products and great people. This was the result of an exhausting and drawn out thought process lasting several months. The data center networking industry is changing fast and this was purely a forward-looking move to best position myself and family for these changes. Again, this was purely a business calculation. My thinking was not clouded by any spite or hard feelings.

Dell Force10

I am extremely excited to be joining the team at Dell Force10. As word began to leak about my departure to Dell, I received a lot of mixed reactions (which I totally expected). Those that have a broad view of the industry and really understand the how the data center is evolving totally “got it” and congratulated me right away on making a smart move. Others who have been busy mastering their specific niche didn’t quite understand. And that’s OK. That tells me I’ve got a head start.

One particular piece of feedback I really enjoyed receiving today was from someone in the industry who I really admire, and a thought leader in Silicon Valley, who wrote this:

First, excellent move. I’m very bullish on Dell these days. Geng Lin has the right vision towards commoditizing the fabric and working with edge virtualization solutions … Also, they are extremely well positioned … I think Dell can win, I really do..

… we would have loved to have spoken with you. But honestly, Dell is probably a better fit. It will allow you to continue to engage the online discourse on the datacenter, and to steer a behemoth in the right direction. The next two years are going to see a huge shift in the market, and chances are you are riding the lead whale.

congrats again on a great move. Well done.

Naturally, I couldn’t agree more! Dell’s acquisition of Force10 was brilliant and presented the right opportunity at the right time. I’m excited to go back to the basics and join the front lines as an Enterprise Sales Engineer, working directly with customers. After I learn what works, what doesn’t, where we win, where we don’t win, etc. maybe then I’ll consider a corporate role. But for now I have many whiteboards and customer handshakes in my future. That’s where all the fun is at anyway. And of course the blogging will never stop!

This is going to be fun.

Cheers,
Brad