Happy Saturday evening.
As I've discussed before, I've spent most of my career being a software engineer. However, last September I returned to Sun after a short departure. When I came back, I took a role as the team lead for the HBA Engineering team. People ask what it is I do, and I often find it difficult to explain. I don't write software. I don't design hardware, although I am technically classified now as a hardware engineer. Regardless of what it is that I do, that's not the purpose of this discussion.
As an HBA engineer, I get a somewhat closer view of what's coming around the corner than I would have working as a software engineer. We have been involved with bringing SAS adapters to market since I came back to Sun.
I didn't think much about SAS at first, probably for two reasons. First of all, being brand new to the HBA engineering role, I was too busy trying to figure out what the heck my job really is. Second, it has taken a while to get "re-linked in" with the network at Sun. That's not to say I'm a player or anything of that sort, but the longer you're at Sun and the longer you're in a specific job at Sun, the more you inevitably become connected to people and projects at various levels within the company.
Now that I have had the time to become more connected as well as to figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing, I've been able to see many of the threads that are enlightening me as to why it is that we're working on SAS HBAs.
Unfortunately, I can't discuss much of the detail surrounding our SAS strategy. What I can say, though, is that I am ecstatic to see that our strategy does, in fact map quite closely to that of other organizations within Sun. What we're going in this group is directly relevant to the overall success of other projects currently in progress in various areas of Sun.
I am ecstatic to come to this realization for a couple of reasons.
First, having spent nearly three years at Sun, this is the first time that I've been able to truly see the "Grand Unified Theory". There is a definite plan and I can actually see where what it is our team does from day to day fits into that plan. That in itself is exciting.
Second, what's even more exciting is the realization that what we hear about Sun's strategy is more than just the words. It's extremely encouraging to see both the strategy being discussed coming to fruition as well as the outcome of this work being reflected outside the company in terms of Sun's last quarter results. Obviously, folks outside of Sun are also starting to take notice.
I am still a relative newbie at Sun. I don't know how people who have been around for 5 or 10 or more years feel about what's currently happening. Perhaps regardless of where you've worked and for how long, the simple fact is that the older you get, the more cynical you become. It may be a good thing, then, that I'm not too old yet. Having worked many years at small companies, I've rarely seen enough worthy of any real interest. What's going on at Sun right now is what I consider exciting. The next couple of years will no doubt be extremely interesting within and outside Sun.
Don't worry too much. I don't sit around on Saturday nights thinking about what's going on at Sun. Unfortunately, it's Girl Scout cookie time, and my wife is the unit cookie director. She spends more time on her computer and on the phone during this time of year than I do. So, I hope you supported your local girl scouts and bought some cookies.
David
