Over the next couple of months, I am going to be chatting with a number of Rackers who were originally customers. We’d like to find out how they came to Rackspace, what their impressions have been thus far and what role they serve within the organization.
Meet Mike Mayo – Mobile App Developer & Racker
Q: How were you using Rackspace services before becoming an employee?
A: Before I was an employee, I was making Ruby on Rails web apps for fun. I was using another hosting provider and the performance was spotty. Every time I had a problem, I would have to submit a support ticket and days would go by before I received an answer.
I researched other providers and came across SliceHost. The experience compared to my previous provider was substantially different. Not only were they responsive, but more importantly, the servers were responsive.
Overall, I just liked the service and the SliceHost community much more!
Q: What led you to join Rackspace?
A: Fast forward, a year later, I was interested in learning a new programming language so I started diving into iPhone apps. I wanted to make something that was tied to a service. I saw that SliceHost had a REST API and since I was a customer, I decided that my first iPhone app would be to manage my SliceHost account.
After I made the app, I opened a support ticket with SliceHost and sent them a big “Thank you!” for the great API. They liked the app quite a bit and a relationship formed.
Q: What are your impressions of Rackspace now that you’re on the inside?
A: Rackspace’s public persona is very friendly and we talk a lot about Fanatical Support®.
Not to be cynical, but I don’t tend to trust much advertising as the majority of companies seem to say one thing and embrace another internally. With Rackspace, what we say publicly and how we act internally are seamless. That is a special quality that I have rarely witnessed within another organization. Furthermore, it ties in directly to one of Core Values which is “Full Disclosure and Transparency.” We are who we say we are and we take a great amount of pride in delivering for our customers.
Q: Tell us about your current role with Rackspace.
A: Currently, I am the mobile apps developer. I build and maintain all of our iPhone, iPad and Android apps. In addition, I contribute to various Open Source projects, including OpenStack.
Some of the apps I would recommend readers check out are the Rackspace Cloud iPhone App, the Rackspace Cloud Pro App for the iPad or, if you are on an Android device, check out the Rackspace Cloud Android App. These apps allow users to manage their servers and files in the cloud directly from their mobile devices. Additionally, if you are a coder, you can check out the source code (and contribute) by visiting GitHub.com/Rackspace.
Thanks for joining us Mike! We are proud to have you as a part of the team!
To connect with Mike Mayo, feel free to reach out to him on Twitter @greenisus. Or to contact him directly, Mike can be reached at (901)299.9306.
In 2010, Michael joined Rackspace Hosting in San Antonio, TX to head up global employment branding initiatives. Since becoming a “Racker,” Michael launched RackerTalent.com and has brought together internal bloggers from five continents to share the authentic culture of the organization.
Michael is a graduate of Georgetown University with a degree in International Relations. He has lived multiple years abroad in both Guatemala and Argentina. In his spare time, Michael enjoys guitar, photography and exploring the social web.
