After 7 Years at Pure Storage, a New Role

In a few weeks, I will hit 7 years at Pure Storage. It has been REALLY fun. Helping to build our VMware integration ecosystem, pushing the vVol adoption/use case/efforts forward. Building what I believe to be a world-class solutions team that I manage.

I’ve hit my seven year itch. What is next? What should I tackle? Where can I make a big(ger) impact? What is something that is uncomfortable for me, that will allow me to grow?

Clearly, public cloud is a thing. Like, duh. Our customers see that, the industry sees that, and of course Pure Storage sees that. I think the potential there is really just starting–and I think tapping that potential is really going to accelerate efforts on-premises too. I think some of the work we are doing with Equinix Metal is proof of that.

I’ve focused on VMware, specifically VMware storage for my entire career. My first job out of university was just that. The VMware ecosystem though is not going away, and in fact is doing some really cool stuff too. Tanzu. VCF. VMware Cloud. vVols. NVMe-oF. A lot of exciting and differentiating work in that realm. One could easily remain there and perform super satisfying and impactful work. So continuing my focus there is definitely a great option.

But, I went back to one of the questions I posed earlier. Where I can I make the biggest impact? It was clear to me, I think. A significant opportunity for Pure, is public cloud. We’ve done a lot there.

1. CloudSnap.
2. Cloud Block Store on AWS.
3. Cloud Block Store on Azure.

I written about these (CBS in particular) a lot, and been tangentially involved–which has been fun. But an opening appeared and I jumped on it. My new title is Director of Product Management for Cloud Block Store.

I will be owning and managing our cloud product, and helping guiding its future. I hope that I can be impactful here. Not only to CBS, but to Pure. But also to what it means for a storage company to provide value in the public cloud. I see Cloud Block Store not as a product (which of course it is) but as an idea:

How can Pure Storage help customers in the cloud?

I have A LOT of possible answers to that question, and I am really excited to see what we can do.

Now, I am not ending my VMware role. Just, changing it. I will continue to blog. Continue to contribute to the community. I will still own the VMware/FlashArray “product” and guide the development and solutions in that arena. I will basically be the PM for VMware on Pure as well. But my VMware solutions team will be taking a great role in owning their respective areas as I focus more of my day-to-day on CBS.

Checkout the podcast I recently did with my thoughts on CBS itself and the opportunity it provides.

I think owning these two parts will be really interesting–bridging our VMware solutions with our public cloud offerings is something that many, many customers are looking to do. So that context will make it even more interesting.