New Years Eve 2012. 11:41 PM – Russ signs off the Motorola Mobility network for the last time.
That means I am done consulting.
It does not mean I am done with Domino. More on that in a later post.
For sixteen years I was the sole Notes/Domino guy supporting the Motorola Law Department (or some version of Motorola…they’ve gone through a lot of changes). I did everything. Administration, training, development. It was a fantastic experience. Not only did I have a free hand as far as Domino was concerned, the engagement (yes, I was an independent consultant the entire time) gave me the opportunity to work with some really smart people and, even more importantly, to develop a lot of applications for an extremely demanding set of users in a unique environment with very forward looking goals. Many of the applications I developed were groundbreaking in the legal industry and some are still state of the art today even though we deployed them years ago.
Was it all peaches and cream? Uh, no. But it truly was a professional watershed for me, I am thankful for the opportunity and I am looking forward to the future with high hopes as I continue with my next step.
Here’s a little free advice to all the 30-somethings out there:
Stay positive about your future. You never know where life is going to take you. I made a single phone call in June, 1996, and the consulting work didn’t stop until yesterday. Sixteen years later!
For those who are wondering…I essentially got, uh, non-renewed by Procurement and Google but that is a story for another post, possibly, or more likely over beer.
Congrats for your new journey & Happy New year
Russ, thanks for sharing. I did not know that history – though Motorola was my client when I was a sales engineer for Lotus originally from 1994-1997 or so. I worked with Tom Jurlina back then, and when I moved on to product management I sort of stopped paying attention to whether Motorola was still using Notes or not.
Best regards for your next step.
i had more fun working with you last fall on Moto than any other job i have had! Best wishes for the future!
Thank you. Same to you!
Thanks Ed. I do remember you back then! I met you in a meeting with Tom and some others. Long time ago.
Both Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility are still using Domino for several enterprise-wide applications. Interesting stuff. I'll be posting about that soon.
Thanks Mark. I know I told you before but it bears repeating here: As the solo guy it was awesome to get to bring someone else in to help me. I really can't describe that feeling when you realize that you are working with someone else you can actually count on who has serious tech chops and who "gets it."
For anyone reading this who says "uh, Russ, you said you were the only guy there…but, uh, Mark Hughes helped you?" In 2012 I asked Mark for some of his time so I could focus on other things while still meeting project deadlines. The application was already in place from previous years and Mark provided 75% of the muscle required to improve the application and for performing the annual updates. Tough stuff to step into any of the apps I built at Motorola but Mark got right in there. There are few other people who could do what he did.
Also starting in 2005 or so Paul Calhoun was my official backup at Motorola when I took vacations. Paul also did some serious damage on a very complex application at Motorola that was industry-leading at the time we built it (damage = significant programming work on a very complex problem).
There were a couple of times when there was simply too much work for me to do and I was very fortunate and glad to be able to call on both Paul and Mark when I needed them.
Can't say this enough: People who know what they are doing and who get it are VERY few and far between. These guys are two of those guys.
Hi Russell. I wish you the best for 2013 and I trust nothing has changed in terms of Education and Training, or is that out the door with consulting?
Russ, best of luck in whatever is next for you. I also had a long run of consulting work (14 years) with a big user of Notes/Domino, which is gradually coming to an end.
I enjoyed meeting you and Paul at The View Dev/Admin 2012 in Arlington, VA, and your help with Dojo/CKEditor afterwards. Wishing you a great 2013!
Thanks John.
Education/Training…can't say nothing has changed…
I am speaking at Lotusphere/Connect for the first time so that is quite a big change.
The for-pay education industry continues to struggle so I think there may be less of that for me going forward.
The LUG circuit has been quite a revelation to me in positive ways and I hope to speak at a few of those this year.
Finally, the last couple of months have not seen my hands coding as much as I'd like for various reasons. I have a lot of plans for new app development in 2013 and that kind of work always spawns ideas for blog posts which I hope to expand in 2013.
Thanks Harris. Same to you! Coming to Lotusphere, uh, Connect?
Good luck on your next steps Russ! I have no doubt you'll find similar long term success.
Thanks Dave.
Very excited about this next new Phase of Russ!
Best of luck on your next steps Russ!
Thanks!
Good Luck Russ. I enjoyed meeting you at Boot Camp. This is going to be a huge year of change for many, myself included.
Russ,
With your entrepreneurial spirit, I envision that new doors will open for you in 2013. You'll probably break them down !
As a parallel, our "run" with Lotus training and consulting is also done. In addition to the training on other software that we have been providing for years (VMware, Microsoft, etc.), we started a Google division last year. I sense this will be a significant part of our business for some years to come. Maybe there is something in the Google realm for you.
all the best,
Robert
Thanks Jeff. I think you're right about the year of change. My change is definitely a positive change and I hope that is the case for others as well.
Thanks Bob. While I am sticking with Domino to run the other business I think your transition is not, and will not be, unique. I actually could have done tons of Google work at Mobility but that really wasn't going to be a thing for me.