Change is hard (but exciting!)

Today was my last day for Strategic Data Systems (SDS).  I’ve been there for a little over six and a half years.  My experience with SDS has been awesome.  The owners are supportive of their employees and of the development community.  Having been consultants themselves, they know what’s it like to try to keep up with the new technology, work with clients daily on projects and also try to keep up with your family.  It has been very difficult making the decision to leave a company that has been so good to me.  I’ve been able to do a lot of really great things as an employee of SDS.  It’s because working for SDS has been so great that a change is hard.

I’ve also had a really great client.  With only about two and a half months worth of exceptions, my primary client was the same one I started with my first day at SDS.  I’ve worked at pretty much the same office for six and a half years.  I’ve seen the client double their development team.  I’ve seen the introduction to Agile practices via Scrum and how that has affected the culture of the company.  I’ve been there so long that they were more than a client, but really my second company.  They were also extremely supportive of me and my involvement in the development community.  They definitely put up with a really strange schedule I kept with all the events I attended or spoke at.  I wish them all the best.  It’s because I had such an awesome client that change is hard.

But even though change is hard (especially when you’re in a great place), change can also be very exciting.  I’m leaving SDS to work for a company that focuses on Windows Azure.  This really matches up with where my interests lie these days and what I’ve spent a good deal of effort in learning over the last two years.  I already feel very supported by the new employer and I’m looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges.  I’ll blog more about my new job in a future post.

If you are looking to be a consultant in the Southern Ohio area, take a look at SDS.  I can easily say that I would find it hard to think about working for another general, custom development consulting firm in the area.