The VMware Career Journey – 4 Years In
You may recall in July 2019, I wrote a blog post about my job change, for those that are unaware, I’ve linked it below:
4 Years later, I’m back looking at my last four years in VMware, evaluating my move and discussing some of the changes that I have seen whilst at VMware.
It was always a scary prospect looking into changing jobs when you have been in a job for a long time. If you read my previous blog post on this then you’ll know that I had been at my previous company for 11 years… so, out of practice with going through an interview process and being on the other side of being a new starter.
When I started, it was before the pandemic happened and therefore my induction with VMware was performed in-person over a few days. I got to meet other new starters whilst learning more about the company and having some fun in the process. I still keep in contact with some of the people I met during that induction process.
As with any new job, the first few weeks will always be like being hit with a fire hose… there is so much information to take in about the company, how things are done and then learning about your specific job role as well. My experience was no different, although I did find the transition from being a very much hands-on role in my previous job to being an advisor as a Technical Account Manager quite interesting. Whereas I could previously jump onto a system to help troubleshoot or offer advice, in my new role it was very much hands off and requiring a different approach to getting stuff done.
I had and still have a good team around me, supporting me when needed, offering advice and being the backbone of the role. I may be the one talking to my customers but if I don’t know the answers then I know someone in the team will either know or will be able to put me onto someone who does. And this work philosophy works both ways, if there is an area that I know, I will offer guidance to others who may not have the same level of knowledge. In all my time working, VMware has been the most supportive company across teams I have known, and I put this down to the EPIC2 values that the company and staff employ. For those that are unaware, the EPIC2 values are about: Execution; Passion; Integrity; Customers; and Community. If you would like to learn more, I suggest you take a look at the following VMware blog post.
In my first few months of being at VMware, I was lucky enough to be able to visit our Head Office in Palo Alto with a customer and also attend a training course in Israel. I could see that type of travel and experience would have continued but then COVID-19 hit. As with many people, it meant that for a couple of years, I pretty much didn’t do anything spectacular. Instead of travelling to customers or to the office, I made myself a home office and spent a lot of my time on Zoom calls. VMware were very good during this time, offering assistance where needed, providing us with the tools and equipment we needed to work from home. They were tricky times but I’m glad I had the support of a company like VMware.
In January 2021, we discovered that Pat Gelsinger (the then CEO of VMware) would be leaving to go back to Intel and in April 2021, it was reported that Dell would spin off its remaining stake in VMware to shareholders. May 2021 saw Raghu Raghuram take up the role of CEO with the spinoff from Dell completed in November 2021. 2021 was a strange year where a lot of changes were occurring but the spinoff from Dell was very much seen as a positive thing and there was a level of excitement about being an independent company again.
Then in May 2022, the Broadcom acquisition started. It was confusing to some members of staff about the possibility of the acquisition. Historically, Broadcom acquisitions hadn’t faired too well for staff members. I admit it is a scary prospect when a company is acquired as there are no guarantees of what is going to happen after the acquisition but the flip side to that is that there is as much chance of positive things occurring from the acquisition as there are negative things. We’ll find out more when and if the relative approvals are provided by the different regulators globally.
Even within my own role there have been changes, and changes are to be expected when you are working in a software company. I have been promoted to Senior Technical Account Manager in June 2021 and the TAM Service as a whole is being developed into the new Technical Adoption Management Services offering.
Change is inevitable and my first four years at VMware have all been about change. Whether that is changing how I work for my new role, or change higher up within the company or even the ownership of the company… there has been constant change. If I knew that there would be so much change in 4 years, would I still have joined VMware… well, yes… I can say categorically that if I was in the same position again even knowing the amount of change, I would definitely take that leap of faith and join VMware. I have never been in a company that has been so supportive and I’m looking forward to having many more years here.