Five changes in my thinking in five months since leaving IBM

As many of you know, I left IBM after 21 years to join Apigee.  Foolish, many would say, but an enjoyable ride, nonetheless.  So how has my technical thinking evolved?

1. Consumers of technology have a very different perspective than producers of technology.  I was the latter before, now I am more of the former.  As an example, see my post on database design...
2. NoSQL is a bigger deal than I thought while I was at IBM.  While my KnowSQL post is still valid, I now realize that the big 5 in NoSQL (what I call the CHARM -- {Cassandra, Couchbase}, HBase, {Riak, REDIS} and Mongo) do not exist for no reason.  So NoSQL is legit, and important.  Not for replacement of the relational databases, but to solve different problems.  {BTW, how do you like the CHARM term -- I was inspired by the BRIC term for the emerging economies?}
3. Cloud delivery is months for functions, not years.  I now tell new recruits, what can you do in 6 weeks?  In my previous life of software delivery, yearly or 18 month cycles abound...
4. Coding is liberating.  You say, "huh?"  I say, "duh..."  I coded first 10+ years in my IBM life, then I coded as a hobby in the last few years.  But coding is great.  And I am loving python!!
5. People talk a lot (in a good sense) about the innovations they are doing.  They contribute to open source, they give talks.  And by reading, listening, watching, and most importantly, coding, we all become smarter.  So why is it different from when I was in IBM?  Simply speaking, in IBM, I would do all the reading, listening, watching.  But I did not appreciate this open common knowledge till I started coding. 

That's all folks.  I promise I will not post a new insight every month (or should I?)

Comments

[Rafael Coss]

I like the CHARM term it makes NoSQL more concrete.

[Eeksock]

I've always thought that coding is required for sanity. :-)

StEpHaN!

[Yelkhatib]

I like the CHARM term. I might quote you on that.