My New Gig ...

After years at Sun doing pretty much a corporate job - it is time to do something new and completely different. Here is the announcement that I sent out to my organization yesterday. More on this as it evolves (I will be creating a new blog just for this).

Just a couple quick notes - Jonathan below is Jonathan Schwartz, the CEO of Sun Microsystems.; Rich is Rich Green EVP of Software at Sun; Karen a VP and my peer working for Rich; and there was another announcement from Rich that I did not attach.

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It is with great excitement and a some trepidation that I send this email giving you a bit more on what will be happening with me and our organization over the next few months.

I have been looking forward to doing something very new and different for quite some time now. And the time has come for me to take that bold step and just do it. The something new is to start a non-profit focused on developing the next generation of technology leaders. It will enhance the educational system for high school students by providing the opportunity to define and run Internet based projects using the latest tools, technologies and processes.

When I shared this with my management, both Jonathan and Rich have been very supportive of the idea and want to help make this a reality. As a result, they have convinced me that I can do this while continuing as a Sun employee. They are also very interested in helping me in other ways. They see the benefit that this will provide to the community as well as to Sun in reaching audiences that are otherwise hard to access. There are lots of details still to be worked but I am very encouraged with our discussions this far!

As you have likely already read in his announcement, Rich has decided that he will be combining the Enterprise Java Platform (EJP) and SOA / Business Integration organizations together into a single software infrastructure team under Karen Tegan Pedir. The new organization will be announced and effective in June. Until then, no changes will be made. You are stuck with me for a bit longer:)

Karen and I, together with our teams will stay focused on our mission and roadmaps while we work out the details of this merged organization.

I wanted to let everyone know that is happening now as it is starting to leak and I don't want it to be a distraction. You all are doing a great job. Our releases are coming out a planned, with continued improvement in quality, performance and stability. Our pipeline is increasing. Our bookings and revenue are growing. Our executives are very happy with the progress that they are seeing. And more importantly so are our customers!!!

Please keep at it. I am confident that the changes will be a good thing. I am committed to closing out the fiscal year and will do everything that I can to help make the transition happen as smoothly as possible. I am confident that Karen will be a great leader of this new combined organization. This is the perfect time to do this. We have the products and momentum to have a great FY08!!

Dale