More details on EMC, Cisco open positions

For those of you who have been following what’s going on – there are large investments being made in EMC and Cisco personnel to support our VMware-focused go-to-market (if they strike you as large, they are DWARFED by investments on the engineering side).

Note that this doesn’t mean we don’t have a go-to-market around Hyper-V (see my post on that here), and that you won’t see activity with other partners (e.g. Dell for EMC, other storage and management vendors with Cisco) but rather that there is overwhelming customer demand for more “VMware/Cisco”, “VMware/EMC”, and “VMware/Cisco/EMC” (VCE) resources.

The way this works is that at EMC we have a team we call “vSpecialists” that focus exclusively on VMware/EMC. People colloquially call the vSpecialist team other things:

“Chad’s vArmy” (I’m not a super-fan of this one – not because I don’t support the military, but rather because the analogy is a bit off: one is recruited or is conscripted into an army – whereas on our team one volunteers; the military thrives on hierarchical structures – whereas on our team there are leaders, not managers)
“vGeek Squad” (more my cup o’ tea as I’m a geek :-)

These operate at a theatre level, but are tightly aligned with our divisional resources. They support engagements with customer that center around VMware/EMC – working to make sure our technologies come together to help the customer, and outside/before any “paid professional services” (there are literally more than a thousand VCP certified at EMC now if you include delivery).

They get to play/use all the latest technologies, in fact, are mandated to be using those that are 6-12 months ahead of GA.

The goal by the end of 2010 is that there are roughly 304 of these vSpecialist folks around the globe.

There is also the VCE coalition Solution Support Team (SST). This is a organization that is composed of Cisco, VMware and EMC employees working together, all matrixed into a leader at Cisco (Alan Button). On the EMC side, our contribution to the SST comes from the vSpecialist team. In other words – if you’re an EMC vSpecialist, and further hyper-specialize in Cisco, you’re also a member of the SST. While I don’t want to encourage the militaristic analogy – think of this as the “vArmy’s” “vRangers” :-)

While it may strike people as weird to matrix into a partner – I don’t think it’s weird at all. While people view the Vblock as synonymous with the VCE initiative – on it’s own, the Vblock is just a bill of materials. VCE is characterized by:

Integrated technology roadmap (look at UIM as one example of many)
Integrated sales support (look at the SST as one example of many)
Integrated support (literally handling calls via a dedicated cross-company team)
Where necessary, new consumption models supported by the Joint Venture.

Personally, the growing matrix team (one of many – some of which are headed up by Cisco folks, some by EMCers, some by VMware folks) is one of the strongest visible manifestations of the VCE coalition.

Both EMC, Cisco and VMware’s resources in these area are being invested in heavily – and we want YOU! If you’re interested – please read on for details on roles, and how to apply.

So – where are people needed?

Cisco is expanding their SST members.
The way this works – you apply at this link: www.cisco.apply2jobs.com , and use the requistion number (noted below). Don’t get hung up on the location. If you’re the right person – apply. If you struggle through bureaucracy, you can always ping me and I’ll help you navigate.
They are looking for:

A leader of Solution-Architect types – this is a leader who can recruit and build Cisco’s SST technical presales folks – people who can design VCE solutions (req: R860164)
Solution Architects (Americas and Europe/Middle East/Africa) – people with deep VMware, Cisco, EMC experience who can cover any part of the technical discussion and design VCE solutions (reqs: R859043, R859044, R859045, R859599, R859598, R859173)
A leader of Client Solution Leads – this is a leader who can recruit and built Cisco’s SST team that can work the business side of customer engagements (req: R860166)
Client Solution Leads – these are people who are not sales, but true solution sales resources – understanding technology, but also the business side of what customers are looking for. Again these roles exist around the world. (reqs: R859018, R859024, R859025, R859605, R859606)

EMC is expanding the vSpecialist team – some of which are assigned to the SST. We’re currently at 80, and the EOY goal is 304 people – in just about every country around the world. vSpecialists are experts in both VE (VMware/EMC) and VCE (in both the sense of the business elements of the coalition, but also in the sense of the technologies of the three companies).
The way this works – there are reqs setup, but the first litmus test is figure out how to email me. Hint – it’s not hard, only a few clicks away from this page. EMC people have a standard email format.
What are we looking for? They come in three types.

vSpecialists – Business: these are people who understand business, can work with CIO and CEOs of massive enterprises, understand how to construct proposals, and drive joint VE and VCE field activity.
vSpecialist – Technical: these are people who love the technologies of VMware, EMC and Cisco. They come in two personality profiles – one that tends to like evangelism (ergo blogger, speaks at VMworld) and one that tends to like lab time/getting it done at a given customer (ergo may be in an IT org today). To fit - people need to be able switch-hit from evangelist to hands-on – though invariably people are better at one rather than another. You always must have customer-facing skills. VCP4 is a pre-requisite, but we value CCIEs (routing/switching mostly, storage is a bonus) and the more EMC experience the better.
Where do we need them?

We need our vSpecialist Technical leader for EMEA – perhaps our most critical hire for 2010. This is someone who has been a career SE leader. We’re not looking for a manager. We want a leader.
We need a large number of individual contributor vSpecialists – both business and technical – all around the world (Americas, EMEA, APJ)

We have 7 business operations and administrative roles – 2 in Hopkinton, 1 in the Bay Area, 1 in London, 1 in Paris, 1 in Singapore, 1 in ANZ.

Please reach out if you’re interested and think this might be a fit for you

Comments

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I really want to get a VCP, but I keep seeing this required $3000 training that you have to sit through to get officially certified. I assume none of these companies will actually hire people who have passed it? As always, I enjoy your blog Chad.

Posted by: Jason | January 18, 2010 at 03:34 PM

Chad,

You are going to be SO flooded :). A chance that someone might get to work with you and Scott ... oh dear!!! :).

I think I know a few people that will be dropping you lines tonight.

Talk to you soon. As always I enjoy the blog.

Posted by: CC | January 18, 2010 at 03:53 PM

Whom do I speak to regarding possitions in the Australasia region?

Regards,
Daniel.

Posted by: Daniel | January 18, 2010 at 05:19 PM

Where do we post regarding EMEA

Posted by: Ahmed Kamal | January 18, 2010 at 07:20 PM

Guys - the first test is can you follow instructions. Every thing you need to know (for Australasia and EMEA or anywhere else in the world) is RIGHT IN THE POST. Read it again please :-)

Posted by: Chad Sakac | January 18, 2010 at 08:55 PM

Chad, an emerging rage in recruiting is a short video of the hiring manager ... and/or clips from those on the team / recent joins. It would be great fun to do this for the vGeek Squad! Let me know if you're game. We can get it even further play by putting it on the EMCCareers properties on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, EMC.com, and my blog. And of course, if other bloggers want to run it, they could help bring the type of color to this opportunity that "Reality Video" does really well. Happy to help film and distribute, if you're game. Would be fun. What you're doing (with or without the video) is a super case study of what I believe is the future of Talent Search in Web 2.0 world.

- Polly Pearson

Posted by: polly pearson | January 19, 2010 at 08:22 AM