Why Do I Work For EMC?

It's funny how things happen.

Joe's open letter to Data Domain employees has spontaneously triggered a number of us to share why we like to work at EMC.

First Scott Waterhouse jumped in, and then 'Zilla, and Steve is pretty clear on his motivations, and Barry is pretty clear, and Polly -- so I guess it's my turn.

And, since I'm a different sort of person, my motivations are well -- rather different.

It's All About What You Really Want

All through my life, I have not been able to tolerate being bored for any length of time.  In grade school, I was initially labelled a troublemaker until the adults figured out that I was being bored to tears by the painfully slow pace of classwork.

Outside of school, I had the full complement of chemistry sets, electronic projects and a few rather dangerous pursuits that kept me fully occupied. 

Not to mention the local emergency room, fire department, police force, etc.

My choice of university was driven by its academic philosophy.  I ended up at UC Santa Cruz where I was able to not only complete a few traditional degrees, but follow my interests without too much restriction and categorization -- which might explain the theoretical linguistics coursework on my transcript.

As I entered the workforce, if it didn't interest me, I wasn't any good at it.  And since things didn't tend to hold my interest for more than a year or so, I ended up hopping around from thing to thing.

And Then There Was EMC

My initial fascination with EMC (way back in 1994) was the observation that information was going to end up being more important than compute or network, so why not join a storage company and see where it goes?

Everyone makes up their own meanings to the initials we use.  My favorite interpretation is "everything must change (squared)". 

Indeed, within 12 months of my joining EMC, it had shifted from a company that was almost exclusively focused on mainframes to one that was almost exclusively focused on UNIX and open systems -- in addition to introducing some cool new technologies that solved some real problems (SRDF and TimeFinder specifically).

I remember thinking to myself that any company that could change its focus that quickly -- and not disrupt either its business or its relationship with customers -- well, that was a pretty important attribute to me.

Later, our shift in core strategy and our resulting long string of mostly-successful acquisitions confirmed my belief that this was indeed a special place at its heart.

Permission To Roam

Although most people would call me a marketing guy, I've done product development, product marketing, sales operations, professional services, technical presales -- all at EMC.  I've always had the freedom to move around and try different things.  Not all of them worked out as well as I would have initially hoped, but that's part of the fun as well.

Now I get the freedom to roam the virtual halls of EMC and interact with just about everyone. 

I get to chat with product engineers about what they're working on, and what we all think will happen next.  Indeed, I can point to portions of the EMC portfolio and see my fingerprints in a few places. 

I get to work with our sales and marketing groups on the demand side of the equation -- what do customers and partners want, and -- more importantly -- how is it changing?  I get to work with our M&A guys on investment themes and strategic angles.  I get to work with our global services group on different parts of their world. 

There's more, but I think you get the idea.  It's not my official job, it's just kind of how it works.

And I get to romp in one of the biggest technology gardens on the planet -- storage, backup, networking, virtualization, security, cloud, content management, etc. etc.  There's always something new and shiny to go learn and understand.

The best part, though, is the interaction I get outside of EMC. 

I get to meet some of the smartest and most passionate IT people on the planet -- our customers and partners.  We always don't agree, but we always enjoy and value the interaction and discussion.  And I get to represent my company in the press, in public forums and -- of course -- via this blog.

Finally, I get to do some radical innovation from time to time. 

As just one example, over two years ago, I jumped into this whole social media proficiency thing -- to start to transform EMC into a 2.0-style company.  It was a blast and was wildy successful, but at some point it was self-sustaining, and it was time to move on.

Currently, most of my work is around private clouds, and the VMware / Cisco / EMC alliance that is working together to accelerate fully virtualized environments and the new federation models they create.  It is heady, exciting and transformational stuff.

As a result, at the end of the day, I'm always exhausted -- physically, emotionally and intellectually.  I couldn't ask for anything better from the company I work for.

It's About Value Systems

One of the things I've noticed as I go through life is that I prefer to associate with people who tend to share my values.  Backgrounds and perspectives are less important, core values are more important.

It's important in my personal life, and it's important in my professional life as well.

Perhaps the most compelling reason I work for EMC is that we collectively share the same values -- both at an individual level and at a corporate level.  The things that I think are important are the exact same things my co-workers think are important, and our senior leadership think are important.

That "value coherency" makes all the difference in my world with every passing year.

Would You Be Happy Here?

Maybe yes, maybe no.

If you're a confident and capable individual who understands their true value yet remains adaptive and flexible, and wants to work with other people who are the same way, I think the answer is decidedly "yes".

But not everyone meets that profile.  Some people prefer to be loners.  Or aren't confident.  Or aren't adaptive and flexible.  Or want to play political games.  Or pursue their personal agendas.

That's OK -- there are plenty of other good companies to go work for.

But, for many of us, EMC is a rather special place.  And we wouldn't easily trade it for something else.

Comments

[Alistair]

Chuck,

A really interesting post... I'm hoping to get an offer to join EMC in the UK so have been looking around at various Blogs and they seem to be very consistent. All seem to say that the EMC Values and Culture are what make you different. From the people I have met so far they do seem to share similar values to each other (and me...)

As most of the Blogs seem to be US based and I have not found any from the UK, would you say that that the the EMC you describe is the same in the UK as the US?

So a question, would you say that the Culture and

[Chuck Hollis]

Hi Alistair

No guarantees, of course, but I spend a lot of time in the UK working with the team there, and I would say "yes", generally speaking, you'll see many of the same sort of cultural elements you'd find in the US-based variant.

Of course, with a bit more culture and class in the UK :-)

-- Chuck

[Alistair]

Chuck,

Thanks...

[Nick]

Chuck,

Thanks for this post. I am in talks with the VCE side of things right now. Coming from the customer side of things I am a bit concerned about how I will fit. I have been very successful up till now but, I wasn't sure how well that applied to a provider like EMC.

Reading the first part of your blog was like reliving my childhood. If EMC's culture is to let you challenge yourself daily - then that is my dream job. I love connecting and working with others to bring success. And I would love to be part of a dynamic profit-center rather than just a support function within a company.

Thanks again,

[Alistair]

I'm now due to join EMC in the UK in the next few weeks, I'll post an update once I've got my feet under the table.

Alistair

[JoyHuang]

Thanks you chuck

I'm a guy who want to join EMC taiwan but don't know the work situation. As you say, EMC, is a challenging and growing job, I think it's the dream job for me, hope I can touch my dream.

Thanks you veryyyyy mcuh.

[Alex]

Hi all, I am a simple IT guy, but really look forward to work in storage business, what basic qualification do I need to get a job at EMC or companies of the like? Any certification I can work on? Thank you.

[Victoria]

Dear Mr. Hollis,

I hope this letter finds you well.

Although this blog post is very old, after reading, I must say that I am extremely pleased and quite touched by it. It has actually given me a bit of hope for my future. And I suppose I am leaving a comment to just thank you for it.

I read that you approve these messages before you accept them, but I would appreciate if you did not accept it. This comment was meant for your eyes only. Obviously, it is under your discretion.

Currently, I am stuck in a situation where it is difficult to get out of. All my life I have been disappointed by so many people who were supposed to care and love me. It brought me lots of despair and heartache which caused depression at an early age (9 years old).

Through grade school and high school, my teachers always said that I had so much potential and that they did not know what was holding me back from my studies. Like you, I got into a bit of trouble also.. a bit of a rebel. I got bored easily, and did not take my classes seriously - all the while, I did not know I was clinically depressed.

Unfortunately, by the time I was diagnosed (depression as well as anxiety).. I was in my 4th year of "college"..or supposed to be. Mind you, I had to face my fears and ask for help myself. No one helped me. The little spark of motivation to keep going with life was still there. I got a psychologist on my own, and a psychiatrist on my own. But I switched from schools and jobs variously. I felt bored with America and never thought I belong in this country. I did not feel appreciated even though I knew I had the potential to do something great with my life and myself as person.

I know I am not unintelligent. When I was young (about 8 years old), I taught myself how to use a computer, taught myself html, xml.. learned computer programs all on my own just for fun. I would build websites for pleasure, and graphic design work for the hell of it. I enjoy learning new things, and am quite curious about the world. Currently, I taught myself French (intermediate-fluent level), and am teaching myself Mandarin and Cantonese. I prefer reading non-fiction books rather than watching movies, and I prefer traveling and experiencing difficult cultures than be scolded by close minded people. So that brings me back to..why am I where I am in life? No where?

My unfortunate past has led to me a road block. After traveling Asia for 6 months, and going to France, I have become more aware with myself and my capabilities as a person. Yet, I do not have a degree...(I tried pursuing Architecture, but lacked the passion and became bored) and it's almost impossible to get a good job without one. For an entire year now I have been trying to figure out what to do, and how to get this degree with the grades I have, and my haunted past. Needless to say, I am a completely different person. Braver, smarter, more confident...I am not afraid to take on challenges.

Finally, I have spoken to a friend of mine who is interning for EMC (by the way, I am from Hopkinton. I forgot to mention this). She absolutely loves it, and her family members do as well. I did some research on EMC and found it notably interesting. Since her dad works for EMC and is stationed in Singapore, I had asked her to forward my resume to her father in hopes that I could possibly get an internship, and gain experience with EMC as well. Maybe EMC may be the type of company I would want to work for..Maybe this is what I've been looking for all along?

Because of this, I have come across your blog post, and it inspired me and has given me MORE motivation to pursue my dreams. It is great to hear about such a large company caring for one another and collaborating flexibly as a team, while loving what they do. I envy this so much.

So, again, this was more of a thank you.. I have to apologize for sharing my life story. I know I am just a spec in your life, but it is nice to be able to (somewhat) compare to someone who had difficulties in the past, and found what they love doing. I will be following your posts in the future I am sure!

Sincerely,

Victoria