Nerd Journey 023: John’s 3-Year Check-In at VMware Part 1

Welcome to episode 23 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode, we discuss John’s 3 Year Check-in at VMware, Part 1. Original Recording Date: 2019-1-26 Topics – John’s 3 Year Check-in at VMware, John’s Observations 1:30 Topics Begin How did John fare at Michael Jordan trivia since this is episode 23? John and Nick have hire dates that are roughly 2 years apart. 4:31 What Has John Learned? 4:31 Core job functions Reached competence in year 1 Explaining the portfolio Virtual desktop was a blind spot Portfolio much larger than it once was Understanding where these products have relevance to customer business problems Coming up with a good company elevator pitch was important. John gives the example of having to do this at a career fair. Understanding customer business issues was new to John. Building relationships within customer organizations and being relevant How close does John see the role of the SE to the account representative? We have to know where our solutions will definitely and when to rule them out based on the situation (first level technical qualification). John supports two account reps. An account rep will be focused on higher level relationships within the organization that a SE may not have. 14:20 Extended job functions Built up to competence in year two Extending relationships with the VMware business units to product team members, technical support team members, etc. Using large events like VMworld / others to build better relationships with customers 18:16 Building an internal network / determining career trajectory Competency in year three Build stronger relationships with the partner ecosystem John had to learn the value to the company from going through a partner / reseller. Sometimes deals are better taken directly than through a reseller. Partners may need to help with implementation or help customers manage support contracts. John gives a nice example of when he leaned on a partner for help as a customer. John cites participation in communities such as Spiceworks as a way to get some information on how the ecosystem works. Other organizations within the company like OCTO (Office of the CTO) Relationships with tech marketing folks 25:02 – What is the Job? 25:02 Customer focus It’s very important to understand what the customer does on a very basic level (their product, how they sell, what their value is in the market, who their competition is, how they view themselves, etc.). Customers need to know you’re willing to help before sharing certain information with you. It comes down to the types of relationships one has within the organization. Understanding customer organizational structure and how they measure success is important before proposing any solutions. Overcoming internal challenges like politics and personnel takes time. John didn’t see the big picture of making the organization / department successful as a customer and had to learn it after leaving the customer side. John had to learn who in the organization has purchased from us, the level of success they have experienced, and how the expanding portfolio is addressing the expanding organizational challenges. There’s an education element to this job as well. If customers don’t know our capabilities, we cannot help them. Listen to what John shares about multiple IT groups existing within organizations and the variance he’s seen across the board. 43:59 Customer business problem focus Executive Initiatives Business Initiatives Technology Initiatives VMware Solutions This required John to train his mind in a new way of thinking. Check out Episode 16 and Episode 4 for our discussions of how managers may / may not understand the big picture and where your work / project fits into the goals an organization. John feels like this problem is more common in smaller organizations. Putting structure into an IT organization may not be prioritized. 50:56 Product focus The portfolio continues to advance and expand (acquisitions, etc.). Be aware of new operating models such as cloud, edge, and managed. We must keep up to date to stay relevant to customers. 53:21 Personal development Expanded knowledge of the marketplace John must maintain relevance in areas that are relevant to customers (AWS / GCP / Azure, storage, networking, security, compute). Check out Episode 6 and Episode 7 on areas of training and training adjacencies. Relevance to other employers may just be a side effect of what we do. Organizations must focus on being employees engaged. The next episode will be Nick grilling John. It’s coming…. Contact us if you need help on the journey.