I’m sitting in a room with men and women who have more acronyms after their names than I have letters in mine.  They are talking in abbreviations and technical lingo that sounds like Star Trek techno-babble to the uninitiated.  I am chiming in from time to time.  I am, perhaps, the dumbest guy in the room.  And I love it.

Since I last posted, I’ve transitioned out of my job as a Customer Flow Technician with Cloud Apps, and into a Technical Project Management (TPM) role with a different team – Shared Resources.  The decision was an easy one for me: although I love Cloud Apps, I came here to do TPM and when the offer came I jumped on it.  Less than nine months with the company and I’ve transitioned in a huge way.  If you didn’t listen to me before, listen to me now – this is a place of opportunity and adventure.  Like that blimp says in Blade Runner.  Okay, maybe that’s a little obscure.

Anyway, my job now is to support Support.  What does that mean?

I was chosen to act as an advocate for support, along with the rest of the Project Team, keeping an eye out on new releases, maintenance and product launches within Cloud to make sure Support can do their job.  Fanatical Support starts and ends with the Racker.  To be sure we are providing this level of support, there is a long line of people and a whole system of processes in place to ensure that our customers not only get a person on the line (or chat), but that they get a qualified, informed, intelligent and, yes, Fanatical person.

In a nutshell – my team is Fanatical Support to Support.

In order to do that, part of my job is sitting in meetings like the one I described above.  Everyday I am impressed by the level of competence and expertise my co-workers display.  These are smart people, but they are also Rackers.  They are always quick with an explanation, slow to frustration and big on inclusion.

Perhaps most exciting of all, these are people that trust me to be smart, too:  I am expected to keep up with the conversation, learn, adapt, stay flexible, and make sure Cloud Support is the best in the business.   I think we’re doing pretty good, but don’t take my word for it:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/23/small-companies-09_Rackspace-Hosting_1XFS.html

http://www.inavero.com/blog/fanatical-client-service-or-why-i-love-rackspace/

After completing nearly two ‘useless’ degrees, Drew graduated from Chapman University in 2007 with a BFA in Film Production (Emphasis: Cinematography) and a minor in Philosophy.  Drew spent the summer in Costa Rica and France shooting an independent film, then headed to L.A. where he spent the next year jogging in the smog before being cast in the role of Stereotypical Industry Whipping Boy #1.

Tired of fetching coffee and doing concept art for television, Drew returned to San Antonio where he worked for a Hospice as a Project Manager for a year.  During that time he completely re-wrote the company’s IT policy – and moved everything to Rackspace.  To be fair, his best friend worked there and it was an excuse to talk on the phone everyday.  Still, he was impressed by the support and, after he quit the hospice and travelled around India on a bicycle for three months, he applied for a job.  Read More…

Tweet