As I flipped through the pages of my old notebook from 2011, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me. It was a time when I first started at Legacy EMC as a vSpecialist, and my manager, Travers Nicholas, had just laid out the roles and values of our team. He emphasized the importance of sales support, marketing support, enablement, and learning. These principles have stayed with me throughout my journey at EMC, now Dell EMC, and I still operate by them today.
As a vSpecialist, my primary role was to support our sales counterparts and ensure technical wins for our customers. We worked closely with the marketing team to promote EMC as the “Number One” choice for VMware environments. We provided content such as presentations, documentation, and newsletters, and spoke at events like EMC Forum and vForum.
One of the most important aspects of being a vSpecialist was enablement. We had access to cutting-edge information and content, but it was only valuable if everyone was aware of it and could deliver the same message. Therefore, we enabled fellow presales team members and delivered the “Why EMC for VMware” messaging. This messaging was crucial for both sales and presales, as well as our partner presales community.
Learning was also a key aspect of being a vSpecialist. We needed to learn about a lot of information, and there were weekly calls across both EMC and VMware portfolios. It was overwhelming at times, but we were expected to know lots about a lot. We learned so as to deliver the messaging effectively.
Since then, I’ve moved from vSpecialist to the Advanced Software Division, transitioned to the Software Defined Solutions Division, and now I’m part of the core presales focusing on the Telco space. My role has changed, but the company has changed, and I still operate by the vSpecialist principles instilled in me six years ago.
One thing that Travers told me back then was “Read virtual-geek, often.” This blog, run by Chad Sakac, is a great source of relevant industry context. It’s amazing how Chad manages to do what he does – writing pages and pages of content for his blog while still running the vSpecialist organization (and later global presales). It still remains a mystery, but Chad is indeed amazing at what he does.
As I look back on my time as a vSpecialist, I’m reminded of a line from a song famous among vSpecialists: “We’re number one, vSpecialists, we get the job done.” It’s a sense of pride and camaraderie that I still carry with me today.
In conclusion, my experience as a vSpecialist at EMC/Dell EMC has been invaluable. The principles instilled in me six years ago – sales support, marketing support, enablement, and learning – continue to guide me in my current role. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such an incredible team and for the lessons I’ve learned along the way.