Dr. Jim Goodnight during his time at the Apollo programme. This would
be a relevant factor in the founding of SAS in 1976.
1.17.1 What I was after
-----------------------
When some time ago I was considering what could, professionally, the
future hold for me I came up with these points to guide me:
1. *It should be around Cloud computing and Kubernetes*
That's a substantial part of what I've been doing in recent years,
and that's something that plays to several strengths I have, if
nothing else the fact that Linux is everywhere (so I can fallback
on my technical knowledge), there's a substantial community
involvement (and I can make use of my participation in the FLOSS
community), and that cloud computing is not going anywhere soon.
2. *It would be centered on Analytics, AI, Data Science*
I think that we are undergoing a period where the ability to
understand and act on data is reaching new heights. Solutions that
address this are particularly interesting to me (and, again, this
is what I was also doing).
3. *I should be able to use what I've learned and done in terms of
Enterprise Architecture, architectural methods, and solution
design*
It's not very 'sexy' today to mention Enterprise Architecture,
TOGAF, etc, but I feel that the fundamental aspects of
architectural governance are just as important for cloud solutions
as they were before, with the necessary adaptations.
4. *The company should have a strong culture and ethical culture of
dealing with clients and workers*
This is always a difficult topic since I do feel that corporate
branding whitewashes everything, and 'ethical culture' has obvious
limits under any system where profit is the driving force, but it's
still a signal about the internal culture.
The SAS Campus in Cary, NC. SAS was one of the first companies to offer
daycare to employees, and the campus famously feature a swimming pool.
Any list like this has its limitations, especially when considering
leaving a place where I was working for more than a decade and where I
was mostly free and trusted, which is something that has a kind of value
which is hard to put into a scale.
1.17.2 Why SAS
--------------
Nonetheless, I must say that I was extremely fortunate to be able to
check all those marks in some way. Only time will tell if it plays out
as expected, but the job role screamed at me to a point where I was
refreshing my email after one day because it seemed to me that I was so
blatantly the right person that nobody else could miss it - fortunately,
I was not far from the truth.
Starting a new job comes with a lot of uncertainties, certainly even
more than usual considering that we are still heavily affected by the
changes in social interaction put in place by the pandemic, but the
process so far has been flawless and the role itself impossible to turn
down.
1.17.3 The importance of role
-----------------------------
I'll have to find out the link, but one interview I've read not long ago
made a case about titles and how they shouldn't be downplayed: they mean
something, and can impact one's perception of direct responsibility -
and that of others. While not a critical factor, the role and
responsibilities associated with it were an important factor for me:
being Cloud and Architecture Lead for Western Europe comes with an
implicit number of things to do that I have found appealing, especially
in the way I can use my existing strengths and use them for growing in
different areas.
That's the plan, anyway. Looking forward for the ride, no place is
perfect but there's a lot of interesting things to look forward to in
having a regional leadership role around Cloud and Architecture in a
company which is a pioneer and leader in analytics, so I'm
understandably excited.
