As some of you know I was part of the lay off that happened when Open Text bought Captaris. While this was an unexpected event I have been pleasantly surprised at the outpouring of help from friends and colleagues. I have also been pleasantly surprised that there are a few companies that are willing to make an investment now with the expectation that the investments today will pay off as this economy works thru the current malaise. Proving to me that this is The Season for Believin'
In case you don't know about Captaris or Open Text. They are both Independent Software Vendors (ISV's) that focus on the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) space. Both are well known companies in their respective arenas, Open Text with their LiveLink product and Captaris with their Rightfax product. There is minimal overlap with each company - at least as far as products go. However, apparently there was too much overlap in terms of people for Open Text's tastes. On day one of the acquistion Open Text did a Reduction In Force (RIF) of about 25% of the staff - including the majority of the executive management team and the core of the team that supported Microsoft and partners - which included me. About one week later Open Text also RIF'd the other people that supported the Microsoft relationship. I wish Open Text luck in their efforts to re-engage Microsoft.
Back to the The Season for Believin' - I continue to be impressed by the outpouring of help, guidance, and suggestions from my colleagues. Thanks to my friends for pointing out opportunities and making introductions. While this is not the best time to be looking for work I am fortunate in that my skills and for the most part my "industry" (the tech space) is not being hit as hard as some of the markets - notably financial services. I am optimistic that good times are ahead as I continue to meet with and have informational interviews with various companies. I am confident in the fact that companies I work for typically get a 10x return on their invesment in my time and expertise. I look forward to putting those skills to use soon. You can be I will be blogging about it and tweeting about it too.
If you know of an enlightened company that is looking for someone to help them guide their business development, alliances, and partner efforts please let me know about them. You can tweet me @jshuey or e-mail me - jeff_shuey@hotmail.com.
In the meantime keep on Believin'
In case you don't know about Captaris or Open Text. They are both Independent Software Vendors (ISV's) that focus on the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) space. Both are well known companies in their respective arenas, Open Text with their LiveLink product and Captaris with their Rightfax product. There is minimal overlap with each company - at least as far as products go. However, apparently there was too much overlap in terms of people for Open Text's tastes. On day one of the acquistion Open Text did a Reduction In Force (RIF) of about 25% of the staff - including the majority of the executive management team and the core of the team that supported Microsoft and partners - which included me. About one week later Open Text also RIF'd the other people that supported the Microsoft relationship. I wish Open Text luck in their efforts to re-engage Microsoft.
Back to the The Season for Believin' - I continue to be impressed by the outpouring of help, guidance, and suggestions from my colleagues. Thanks to my friends for pointing out opportunities and making introductions. While this is not the best time to be looking for work I am fortunate in that my skills and for the most part my "industry" (the tech space) is not being hit as hard as some of the markets - notably financial services. I am optimistic that good times are ahead as I continue to meet with and have informational interviews with various companies. I am confident in the fact that companies I work for typically get a 10x return on their invesment in my time and expertise. I look forward to putting those skills to use soon. You can be I will be blogging about it and tweeting about it too.
If you know of an enlightened company that is looking for someone to help them guide their business development, alliances, and partner efforts please let me know about them. You can tweet me @jshuey or e-mail me - jeff_shuey@hotmail.com.
In the meantime keep on Believin'
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