I hope everyone is having a good holiday season.

Since the beginning of my career in the 1990s, one tenet is still true: the only constant is change. Many of us joke that X number of years of experience is not the same year of experience X times. Careers are a journey, not a destination. You learn. You grow. Some things in life and work are cyclical and yes, some of the challenges we face are the same or similar. Heaven knows “everything old is new again” is true when you have been around as long as I have, but how we approach and deal with challenges is often completely different as times and technology has changed.

When I went independent in 2007 with Megahirtz and later also founded SQLHA, each was and is a unique experience. I’m proud of both companies. In 2007, I had been a consultant for more than seven years as an employee at both Microsoft and Avanade. By the end, I was basically doing my own business development at that point and decided it was “now or never”. In my mid-30s, I took a leap of faith to invest in myself. What I thought might be a few years at most turned into over 15. I exceeded my expectations and smile when I think of the success I’ve achieved.

This year, I took another leap of faith. I made the difficult decision to step back from consulting to become an employee again. It is never an easy decision to make when you have a company, customers, and a business partner. Once again, I’m betting on myself to succeed in a new chapter of my life.

What Will I Be Doing?

My role is a Technical Evangelist for FlashArray at Pure Storage. My day-to-day tasks speak to everything I bring to the table – not just my technical SQL Server expertise. Being able to use the depth and breadth of my skills was important to me wherever I landed as I’m more than a SQL Server availability guy. I’m thrilled to be joining Pure and so far, they seem happy I’m there, too.

How Did It Happen?

The process was organic. Anthony Nocentino (Blog | Twitter) and I had a conversation at an event this fall. The topic of me looking was not an agenda item; it just came up naturally. Turns out it was perfect timing for everyone involved. I owe Anthony a huge thank you. Never underestimate the power of networking at events. At one point I may blog about my job search and all its ups and downs.

What About SQLHA?

Max and I talked with customers before I published this blog post. I strive to be open and honest in my dealings with people. They know I’m stepping back from consulting and the day-to-day management of SQLHA’s business. Max continues to work with our existing customers. There’s a bit of a transition period that I cleared that with Pure.

What About My Relationship with Max?

I’ve known Max for over 20 years going back to when we were both blue badge employees at Microsoft. We are still good friends and that has not changed. There was no need to go through this process with two fingers held high in the air. I did not find the job at Pure and spring it on him. It was important Max was on board before I started to look for the right position as this impacted him, too.

What Changes?

Honestly, not much. I’ll still be that business continuity, infrastructure, virtualization, cloud, and more pedant (and smartphone curmudgeon) you all know and love – and sometimes love to hate. I’ll continue to speak at events including SQLBits in Wales in March 2023 where I have a Training Day “Architecting Scalable, Available, and Manageable SQL Server Deployments” on Wednesday, March 16. Not all of my speaking will be under the Pure banner. My book and public training are still on the radar map for 2023. SQLHA (the website and the company) will be around. SQLHA.com has been my Internet home for over 15 years and will continue to be. It will be the home to my blog and I’ll probably post the occasional video to the SQLHA YouTube channel. You can also find me on Twitter (for now, at least), LinkedIn, Mastodon (@SQLHA@techhub.social), and Counter Social (@SQLHA@counter.social).

I wish everyone the best as the curtain draws on 2022, and hope 2023 is even brighter for everyone.