Well, it has come to that time again (nearly 11 years later), and I’m off to a different company. So shortly I’ll be working for Ipanema Technologies, instead of Orange.
I joined GlobalOne at the beginning of March 1995, doing network technical support. Over time I graduated to being a project engineer, designing networks for customers, including Unilever and GlaxoSmithkline. After restructuring in the engineering team, I ended up managing the team. I changed the focus from individual network projects to a more long-term relationship with customers. This relationship ensured the network evolved over time to keep pace with the customer requirements, and not revolutionary changes every contract renewal.
Then there were more changes in the organisation as GlobalOne first lost Sprint as an owner, and then becoming wholly-owned by France Telecom. At this point, the company merged with Equant, which France Telecom had brought from SITA (the airline communications organisation). Shortly afterwards, a rebranding, becoming Orange Business Services.
After a while, I moved into the WAN Optimization arena, and consultancy, which wasn’t really too big a shift, since most of my focus has been on consistent user experience.
I’m somewhat sad to leave all the colleagues and friends I’ve made there, but this being a small industry, I’m bound to keep bumping into them in the future at various locations.