We all have choices in life. I choice the career within Information Technology for a couple of key reasons. Foremost, I love technology. It’s the reason I am so passionate about my career and it is why I am working with the technology I work with.
After being in the Information Technology field , I found I enjoyed helping and enabling others. This started in the service field, when I was in college; then at my first Information Technology job as helpdesk, and so on over the years. This was what kept me going as a Systems Admin. This is what keep me going through the long nights over the years. This is what made me crazy enough to Start my first User Group. Then go on to lead two VMware User Groups in Minnesota. This is why I applied for the VMware vExpert Program.
I count my self lucky in some way’s. I have had the privilege to be a part of Tech Field Day. I was able do social media events around the country as a evangelist, as a influencer or even press. As time passed, I grew networking connections, and learned a great deal about public speaking, independent thinking, and a ton about collaboration with colleagues around the world.
At some point I began to feel like I lead two life’s. One of a evangelist. Someone who shows his passion about the technology and wants to share the vision with others. And another as a Admin, who put out fires and did his best at the day to day battle. But I spent 90% of my time as a Admin. I won’t lie, I felt like I was being held back as a Admin. I wanted to do more but wasn’t sure on how I should move forward.The company I worked for didn’t have a role that I fit into anymore.
I did what I think was the perhaps best and most important choice I have made in 2014. I talked to my colleagues.I talked to colleagues who are Admin’s. I talked colleagues who are in the Social Media space. I talked to colleagues that are industry annalists. I talked to colleagues that work for partners, and vendors.
It was a wonderful experience, as it was both enlightening and humbling. I had a hundred conversations. A lot of recommendations about future paths. But none suggested that I should continue to be a System Admin. It was the verification I needed. It matched my personal feelings about the role that I was currently in as a Admin.
After a great deal of thought, I decided that my role as a Admin was over. I decided that I wanted to move on to a field that I could leverage the skill set I have developed over the years. I wanted it to be in a role that I can still enable and help others in. That role ended up being a Solutions Architect for a partner.
A couple of weeks ago I accepted a Solutions Architect role at Deltaware DataSolutions. This marks my first week fully in my role. I will not attempt to mask my excitement, as I feel both liberated and empowered in this role. I am looking forward to working with my new team.
This is my next step. My New Frontier. I feel like a fog has lifted in some ways. I can focus on a single career and job. I plan to get more sleep. And I plan to blog more, talk to others more, and pay more attention to social media than I could as a Admin.
As always Hit me up on twitter @rogerlund or flag me down next time you see me.
Roger Lund
