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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

3384.0. "Quantum Leap (Oh, boy!)" by BABAGI::CRESSEY () Tue Sep 13 1994 15:59

Well, the days grow short when you reach September.  The imminence of the move
to Quantum is making itself felt for me.  That's right, I work in the part of
Digital that was sold off to Quantum.  There are increasing signs around me of
the change that is about to take place.

Some of them are small:  in conversations about what Digital is finally going to
do to straighten itself out, one hears the word "we" less and less, and one hears
the word "they" more and more.  More of my colleagues are walking around with 
those little Quantum bags that they give you when they explain the benefits.
Some are a little larger: The folks who manage the systems I use have only one
thing at the top of their lists:  managing the easynet split, and the resulting
operational issues.

This is going to be my second departure from DEC.  I was a regular employee for
ten years.  Then, in 1985, I "went independent".  I stayed that way until the
IRS and the market pushed me into accepting brokered work at DEC.  That's W-2
from my point of view, but contract work from DEC's.

When I first came on board, I wasn't sure that I would really be a part of
the DEC community.  So much so, that before writing in this conference, I
asked the moderator about it.  After a while, I began to fell just like everybody
else, in most ways, but with a funny badge number.

Things have been much quieter here than they appear to have been in Rdb 
Engineering.  Everybody that uses a database puts it on a disk, but I guess
it doesn't make too much difference what name is on the front, so long as
it works and doesn't run out of space.  So I guess the Quantum sale frightened
a lot fewer folks than the Rdb sale did.  I draw some conclusions about the
culture from that.

This group always seemed more quiet, and more purposeful to me than many other
groups in Digital.  They (we) knew what they (we) had to do to make money, and
to earn the respect of our clients. I like that.  I think I'm going to like it
as much, or more, under Quantum's flag as under Digitals'.

Well, I'll keep you posted as long as I can....

If I don't get a chance later, let me say it's been a real pleasure swapping
notes with all of you.

Regards,
    Dave

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3384.1	Adios, me amigos....	POBOX::CORSON	Higher, and a bit more to the right	`Tue Sep 13 1994 16:15`	6
	Well, Dave, good luck with your new employer. Have enjoyed your notes and there content. We all wish the OEM disk folks all the best in your future endeavors with Quantum. May you live long and prosper. the Greyhawk
3384.2		NOVA::FISHER	Tay-unned, rey-usted, rey-ady	`Wed Sep 14 1994 08:48`	3
	any may 'our' product continue to result in sales of 'your' product :-) ed, Rdb engineer
3384.3	It only hurts the first time	MUNDIS::SSHERMAN	Steve Sherman @MFR	`Mon Sep 19 1994 08:58`	16
	To all the quanta: as one who has been sold anywhere from four to six times, depending on which change of employers you count, I can tell you this: the most important thing about a sale of a company or part of a company is whether the buyer has any kind of notion why it is making the purchase. My own last transfer (Philips to Digital) is so classic an example of the wrong kind of purchase that it will probably wind up in the BusAd textbooks some day. FWIW, my impression is that Quantum knows EXACTLY why it is buying you, and that should be very good news. Best wishes to all of you. Steve
3384.4	Good bye & good luck	LEDS::GRAHAM		`Fri Sep 30 1994 09:57`	40
	I thought I'd add my note to this string rather than post a separate one to say, "Good bye!". This is my last day at DEC along with about 5000 others who are making the "Quantum leap" as part of the Storage/Quantum deal. I've had my exit interview, signed all the paper and will exchange my Digital badge for a Quantum badge later today; our DTNs and DECnet access will be cut this weekend. I'll miss Notes...but there's still Usenet News. It'll seem strange coming into work next Monday to the same building with the same people but working for a different company. At the same time, it'll be exciting working for a company that's clearly focused on the part of the industry where they believe they can and will be best in class. After 18 years at DEC it's time for a change. During that time I've seen the company grow and then decline, met a lot of people, worked with some great ones and learned to deal with the not-so-great. The lessons learned were technical, financial, emotional and personal; some lessons were easy and some were hard. I had a lot of fun and acquired some great memories during those years but the last few, prior to my move to Storage, were difficult. I saw many good, qualified, talented, hard-working individuals get laid off alongside the lesser performers while some of the most incompetent managers I've known continue to blunder on. I'm saddened that Bob Palmer et al have chosen to return Digital to profitability by downsizing and dismantling the company. As a stock holder I hope that Digital may some day become profitable but I'm afraid that it'll achieve that goal at the expense of many careers. I'm still not convinced that the senior management of this company have a workable plan to meet their stated goals and I can't help but think that there must have been a better way to turn the company around than by selling off and laying off. Good bye and good luck to those of you left to continue the battle. John G.
3384.5	Q bound	ELWOOD::KAPLAN	Larry Kaplan, DTN: 237-6872	`Fri Sep 30 1994 13:21`	9
	Me, too. Good luck, Digital. L. [email protected] [email protected]
3384.6	Address @ Quantum	TZTAPE::CRESSEY		`Fri Sep 30 1994 14:43`	8
	(this is a correction) Here's what I think my Internet address will be on Monday: [email protected] Bye again, Dave
3384.7	(Almost) just like Digital	GOTIT::harley	Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...	`Fri Sep 30 1994 18:23`	9
	All users on Quantum-bound systems with DECnet mail will have an email address of the form: [email protected] I've set up and tested 2 systems at Quantum to do this; it seems to be working, but I'll find out for sure on Monday... /harley