Leaving big blue

Yep, I'm calling it a day with one of the biggest and by far *the* most important company in the history of computing (and before that, tabulating!).  So why leave?  Well that's mostly between IBM and myself :o)  But I really want a new challenge with a new company which have a very different dynamic to a large corporate.  I will be letting you know about my future plans soon enough, but this post is all about IBM and me :o)

I've worked at IBM for over 11 years, and I wanted to share my experiences with you.  The Hursley site is a truly wonderful place to work, but the most important asset onsite is the people.  IBM have built up a friendly, highly technical group of people, many of whom I consider my good friends which I will continue to meet up with beyond my career at IBM.  The portfolio IBM produces in my opinion is second to none on the market, and I look forward to continue watching IBM perform well in the future, on the other side of the fence.

So what am I doing?  Well for now I'll say that I'll still be working as a technical evangelist, but for a very different company indeed.  IBM has over 300,000 employees, whereas my new venture has < 100.  Yes, it's going to be a big change and I'm looking forward to tackling the new challenges.  I'm still going to be involved around the Java space and will be involved with the London Java User Group (London Java Community - LJC) more than ever.  I'm sure there will be aspects I will miss, and I'm sure there will be aspects I will not miss ;o)

I'm really excited about this new move and the prospects it brings and look forward to sharing this with you in more detail soon when the time is right.  For now, thanks to everyone at IBM for making my time here amazing.  Thanks for your support, from a technical, career and friendship point of view.  I've met many great people, none more so than my wife, Liz!

So long and thanks for all the fish.