Life in Technical Sales

Pre-Vacation Madness

JFA — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:20:53 +0000

If you’ve got a family, ever went on a long vacation and work in IT and/or sales, this will sound familiar: you try to ‘clean’ your plate before leaving so you can enjoy your vacation, to realize that:

you could never ‘clean’ your plate before, even in the best of times, what makes you think you could pull it off with a shorter runway
stressing about the fact that your plate isn’t clean makes you lose the first few days of vacation, as you try and unwind from going at 150% for the last 4 days
your work to live, not the other way around

Our little family is leaving for two and a half weeks to visit our southern neighbor’s more sunny climate, since Montreal’s weather seems to be forecasting windy or rainy for the rest of the month.

In the last few days, I’ve been working overdrive in order to finish quarter’s end paperwork at the office, plan for the next trimester, document everything, establish contingency plans as I’ll be away. And that’s just IBM.

I’ve also let my consulting clients know I’ll be away, I’ve tied up a few loose ends on some projects, got myself a shiny new accountant to handle our businesses (it was becoming time-consuming, unproductive, and probably even dangerous to my financial health to have me doing debits/credits…) and switched my business email from Gmail to my own server, so I can separate personal and consulting, and hopefully work on improving work-life balance

Tomorrow, I plan which electronics make the trip, fill up the iPods and laptop, bring the AC adapters and we should be close to leaving… can’t wait to do … nothing.Similar Posts:

Email, IMAP et affaires

JFA — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:35:34 +0000

Je change mon setup de email. Avant, tous mes comptes aboutissaient dans Gmail. Maintenant, mon email de consultation sera ’standalone’ pour departager ma consultation de mes emails personnels, et ameliorer mon ‘branding’.Similar Posts:

Diversification: Not Only for Investments

JFA — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:08:01 +0000

I’ve majored in Finance at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, in 1994. And so, I know all about the principles behind asset allocation, risk structures, market vs intrinsic risk, and portfolio diversification according to risk aversion. And even then, I’ve allowed myself to be blindsided at 4PM on some idle Tuesday… never again.

A number of years ago, I started providing web design services and what could be considered computer consulting services for local businesses. Since then, I’ve always kept it as a hobby, allowing me to expand my skillset into areas my employers may not require for my given role. Today, I’ve taken an additional step in diversifying my sources of income and cold-called my local paper to offer my services as a journalist for internet-related articles. I don’t know if I’ll get a yes, but I know for one thing I have much to share and I WILL land some writing gig somewhere I can see my name in print. Because that’s something interesting to me.

And if those three things in themselves aren’t diversification enough for you, I’m also in full-planning mode to help my wife launch a catering and chef-at-home business, once she finishes cooking school at the end of this year.

I’m also contemplating opening up my collection of 17k+ photos, and hand-picking some to either showcase them in a local expo, or on the web (yeah, I know the stock photo selling business is very hard – but I have a big advantage – I don’t rely on it solely).

Heck, while I’m at it, I’ve always wanted to write a book, so look for that in your favorite library in 5-6 years too!

So the next time you wonder about the optimal asset allocation between bonds/stock/money-market funds for your portfolio, take a hard look at your sources of income as well and assess your risk/reward position with regards to your day job… I still have a job I like and am good at, but things could have been very different… plan ahead!Similar Posts:

Still at IBM

JFA — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:46:50 +0000

On Friday, January the 30th, IBM Canada offered me a position that was considered equivalent to my previous role and I accepted. I am now officially a rep. My real title is SSSR, which stands for Specialty Software Sales Rep. In reality, I think most people will understand better if I say WebSphere Field Sales Rep.

I work under a new management team, I inherit shiny new work colleagues, and honestly they are a great bunch… I’ve worked with many of them over the years and we get along great! Some details remain to be finalized, but I should be good to go pretty soon. Oh, and the Crackberry is on the way…

You might recall that I used to provide pre-sales technical support on the WebSphere product portfolio before I got hit by the resource action. Well, it seems that I will now be the person that used to call ME at Techline, my old department. Ironic, but not in a bad way, really.

My role now is to visit customers and drum up business for WebSphere. I’ll be assigned a territory (something in the Quebec province) and from there, plan my strategies, messages and help customers buy WebSphere (notice the angle, I have nothing against selling, but helping people buy puts you in a different frame of mind – consultative selling). Now, some might say this is the worst of times to be selling, as no one will be buying in a shrinking economy, but I disagree. I think that in every situation, there’s an angle that can be taken that can maximize the positives. Heck, days ago, I was contemplating having to leave IBM, and even then, I didn’t think the future was that grim!

And I have a number of ideas, based on my many interests in IT, my background and the projects I’ve led that I think will be helpful in how I approach territory management and marketing initiatives. My use and knowledge of social software, web 2.0, virtualization, cross-platform issues, web development, SEO, web marketing and bilingual communications will all play a role as I try to come up with innovative new ways to gain customer’s interest, and most importantly, trust.

Besides shaking hands and traveling by car to my customers, another welcome change will be doing business in French. Given that I used to cover the Americas, I can say I worked in English 95% of the time, even though based in Montreal. And even the remaining 5% was split between French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese… Ca va faire drole de parler ma langue en informatique, mais tres rafraichissant en meme temps!

I’ve already spent 2 days at our Quebec City office last week, meeting part of our team, and the other 2 days in the Montreal office, getting some admin done and meeting my team of WebSphere IT Specialists (what I used to be) which will provide me with in-depth WebSphere knowledge. I did work from home, on Friday, and it almost felt awkward, given there was so much going on when I was out in the real world!

Oh, and I just bought a few suits, shirts, ties and even cuff-links … hey, if I’m gonna be at customers, it’ll be in style Similar Posts:

NextGen Gallery

JFA — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:12:15 +0000

I finally spent the time reading the documentation, and figured out how to make my photos page easier to navigate *and* while remaining dynamic in how it’s updated, *and* get better SEO in the process.

In essence, I had to make sure that:

Each gallery I create/created is linked to a new page, off my /photos page
Uncheck the option to NOT link to a sub-page, in NextGen’s Options panel
Use the Album tag on my main /photos page
Ensure that each Gallery is included to the relevant Album (family or work)

Of course, I could simply use Yahoo’s Flickr or Google’s Picasa, but I’m a little of a control freak over my UGC (User-Generated Content) and like to keep my assets in a place I have full control over. This way, I get to keep everything on my own server. Some may differ and trust the cloud, but having read a few TOS (Terms of Service) from Facebook and the likes, I don’t like that everything I put online on those services could become their property.

Next, I plan to add the proper CC permissions, add some EXIF info and a description/tagging for each picture.Similar Posts:

Angles

JFA — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:50:19 +0000

Someday, I want all my apps to be open source, other days, it’s all Mac-like, and other days, it’s simplicity. Each angle has cons/pros, and I should learn to stick to one, if I’m to have any stability in my home computing environment.Similar Posts:

WPtouch

JFA — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:40:46 +0000

Finally added the WPtouch plugin, to ensure all my iPhone/Ipod Touch carrying friends would could read my WordPress-powered website without becoming blindSimilar Posts:

My CV

JFA — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:19:00 +0000

I’ve finally managed to update my CV. You’d think I had a resume all ready, and I did (somewhat), but it just didn’t reflect all the work, projects and achievements that I had in my last role while in IBM’s Techline. I think I did a pretty good job with the look and more importantly, the content. Of course, it helps when you’ve good interesting things to say

Download my CV in PDF format

And if you’re not the reader type…
Similar Posts:

I’ve been ‘Resource Actionned’

JFA — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:50:29 +0000

For the uninitiated, the term Resource Action means I’ve been given 30 days to find a new position within IBM. Yes, you read that right… I guess the rumors were true after all. And like many, I didn’t want to believe them – at the worst, I never thought I’d be affected by this. I mean, for the last 5 years, I’ve always been rated as a Top Performer I was identified as Top Talent (management potential), and even received an IBM Stock (not options) Award as a retainer.

At this junction, I face a simple choice: I can stay in IBM or leave. Legal terms differs by country (I’m in Canada) and so I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that there are many criteria that determine if I can get the severance money, should I decide not to remain within IBM.

For me, that choice will not be driven by anger, guilt or many of the feelings typically associated with receiving this kind of news. I’m trying to be rational and cool-headed about it, as much as one can be given the circumstances. Like many of you, I’ve got a mortgage to pay, young children, needs and desires.

Staying in IBM has many perks I’ve come to appreciate over the years. I’ve had amazing managers to help me through the toughest times and fight on my behalf for better salary and working conditions. The things I own, the IT and business knowledge I’ve acquired are due to my experience working at Big Blue. The connections I’ve made around the world, and the traveling I’ve done, also IBM. But IBM is a corporation whose objective, like any other company, is to maximize shareholder value. I’ve learned that it doesn’t owe me anything – it provides a salary in exchange for my time/skills, and that’s it. Like the mafia movies would say: “Hey, it’s notin’ personal.. just business, you understand?”

So at this point, I’m looking for opportunities of any kinds: internal to IBM (obviously), external (Partners, ISVs), expand my consulting business, work for a local company, leave Information Technology and explore something completely new… did I leave something out? (no, I won’t do missionary work… not yet, at least)

Some random facts:

I’ve got 30 days starting today to find a new role
I’ve got a severance package offering a few month’s relief
I possess several desirable technical skills and good business acumen
I’ve got a great reputation in IBM
Reputation means nothing when no jobs are available

Like any of you, I’m unique. I’ve got a specific mix of skills, knowledge and aspirations. Personally, I can speak both business and technical with clients. I’ve got experience in software and hardware, sales and technical. I love to present in front of an audience. I love technologies like open source, Mac, Linux, Lotus, WebSphere, VMware, Web 2.0/Social Software, but especially love to make them relevant in a business setting (as in “not Tech for Tech’s sake”). I’m a fast learner, bilingual (trilingual, if you count HTML/CSS), perfectionist and driven.

My action plan is simple: create myself a pipeline of opportunities in the next 7-14 days, and choose the best option for my family and I.

…of course, no such blog post would be complete without the usual list of web links about moi, so here they are. Share them with your friends, colleagues and managers

Blog: http://arseneault.ca
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jfarsen
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jfarsen
Identi.ca: http://identi.ca/jfarsen
Email: jfarsen@gmail.com

I won’t thank you for all the fish just yet … let me swing the bat a few times… I just may hit it out of the park, we never know!

Edit: I’ve been told I should mention this, so here it is: YES, I’m willing to relocate (with some assistance) and/or travel, provided the job is a good fit. I’m currently in Montreal, and would entertain moving to Europe, Africa or Latin America if necessary.Similar Posts:

ING Direct

JFA — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:08:58 +0000

So I’ve made the plunge and got an ING Direct savings account to build a ’safety net’. Use my ‘Orange Key’ and get $13 as you open your account (I also get $13) using this key: 32931275S1. If you deposit $100, that’s an immediate 13% ROI… not bad, don’t you think?Similar Posts: