Site Owner, Author at Go from Technical to Tech Executive

When you retire – working after retirement

Are you a tech exec getting to the age where you are thinking about retiring but don’t know what to do afterwards? Retiring after 20-30-40, or even nearly 50 years of experience, can make it tough to leave IT behind.

To stay in business without committing the hours needed for a top tech executive, explore various options.

Gig Work: Companies seeking rapid advancement benefit from senior leaders’ valuable experience without committing to a permanent executive. Use LinkedIn as a way to connect with company leaders looking for experience. You might also want to look at networks like Upwork, where you can network with people looking for senior leaders for temporary assignments.
Technical Advisory: Again, use LinkedIn to connect with people looking for hourly consulting needs. You can typically work with individuals over Zoom to provide them with your expertise based on their specific needs.
Blogging: Share your expertise on the go with a blog site. Earn extra revenue through site advertising. The more popular the site becomes the more you will generate. This is a great way to stay occupied and not have a major work commitment.

However, you stay connected with IT you also need to remember to stay up to date with technology.

So, invest in yourself by getting premium services like LinkedIn Learning where you can take courses whenever you feel you need to update your skills in a specific area. This helps you stay competitive in the job market and demonstrates your dedication to ongoing learning.

Another important aspect of staying connected with IT is networking. Attend tech conferences, join online forums or communities, and connect with professionals in your field. Expanding your knowledge and staying updated on industry trends can lead to collaboration and career growth.

In conclusion, to stay connected to the IT industry after retiring as a tech exec, consider gig work, advisory roles, or blogging. If you want to keep writing and sharing your knowledge, creating content for tech2exec.com could be perfect for you. Please connect with me and we can collaborate on some articles.

Click here for a post on retirement.

When Should a Tech Exec Retire?

Work Options for Retired Tech Execs

Is an MBA Still Worth It?

As a tech exec, you may consider an MBA to enhance your resume and leadership standing among peers, and concerned if the MBA is still worth it. Aspiring tech execs may also view the MBA as a means to establish themselves and ease the path to tech leadership.

Does MBA still hold the same cachet as it did years ago?

If you’re considering an MBA, I wouldn’t discourage it. The education it offers is valuable for leaders and aspiring ones. Some companies still highly value this designation. Explore the impact it has had on those who have received it to judge if it’ll help you advance in your organization. If the value seems limited, it might not be worth the time and impact on family. However, if MBAs have benefited others in your company, it’s worth considering, especially if your tuition is covered.

Consider your level in the company and your career stage.

MBA returns can diminish at a certain point. Evaluate the benefits and your company’s emphasis on MBAs. Additionally, an MBA can add value if you’re interested in leadership beyond technology, such as COO or CEO roles.

If you’ve just graduated college and are considering an MBA, my advice is to begin your career at a company that offers education financing. Pursuing an MBA while still in college adds to the future financial burden. Many employers cover educational costs to develop their leaders. Research and explore the benefits offered by potential employers.

In summary, if you’re early in your career and in a company that values an MBA, go for it, especially if they’ll fund it. Adding to your resume is always beneficial when you have few obligations, like a family. The added value an MBA could bring down the line is unpredictable, as there are a lot of unknowns when you’re young.

Click here for a post on the top college computer science programs.

Building and Maintaining Your First Professional Resume

Building your First Resume

TCO and the Hybrid Cloud Environment

Many tech execs manage a hybrid cloud environment, with multiple cloud providers and possibly an existing mainframe. Some companies ended up with a hybrid environment because they were early cloud adopters and didn’t get the desired outcomes, prompting them to try another provider. Alternatively, multiple organizations chose different cloud providers without proper decision controls. Many companies selected multiple cloud providers to avoid relying on a single one.

Regardless of a company’s journey, the tech executive strives to optimize performance in this intricate environment. Total cost of ownership can be really out of whack if there are multiple cloud implementations, and the legacy, say mainframe, environment exists as well.

Tech execs are worried as overall tech infrastructure costs rise due to cloud migration.

Their messaging has always been that moving to cloud will reduce costs because the cloud provider will own the equipment, vs. having to maintain hardware in the datacenter. So, this sales job by a tech executive to their leadership can appear to have been inaccurate.

The reality is, moving applications from legacy systems to the cloud can lead to higher costs.

While transition may require some overlap in production, it’s crucial to decommission as much as possible during migration. A detailed plan should demonstrate the cost reduction during the move. Clearing up tech debt in the mainframe environment beforehand is wise to avoid carrying debt to the cloud, which adds to expenses.

Why are organizations stuck with a hybrid environment?

Initially, in the cloud hype, many jumped onboard hoping for immediate savings. However, merely moving a messy app to a new platform means shifting problems to a different environment. In other words, rehosting doesn’t actually solve anything. It’s just a datacenter change without leveraging the cloud provider’s benefits.

Many organizations opted for a different cloud provider due to misunderstandings about deriving value from their initial choice. The act of rehosting merely shifted chaos from one place to another. Failing to leverage the cloud provider’s PaaS offerings resulted in increased costs for the new platform.

A tech exec needs a thorough plan to migrate the legacy environment to the cloud. If going hybrid, understand the total cost of ownership and consider consolidating platforms for cost-effectiveness. Manage legacy decommissioning alongside migration. Simplify and optimize platform management. Use TCO to assess value in a broad environment.

See this post on Total Cost of Ownership and how to calculate.

Deploying a Multi-cloud Strategy

Keep the Data Center or Move to the Cloud?

Legacy Mainframe Environment

Put your Family First – life’s too short

Many tech execs are so focused on their career that they don’t spend the time they should with their family. Life is so short, and family first should be the number one priority of any tech exec. I know, with all the pressure today to operate at the highest levels, it’s difficult to make time to get away.

As a senior tech exec, collaborate with your Talent organization to promote and embody the expected behavior.

In other words, every organization today talks about work life balance. However, when it comes down to it, the work life balance goes to the back burner. Talent needs to help enforce and emphasize the importance of family, ensuring that leaders get the time to break away and spend time with their family.

For me, I have a son who is a strong baseball player and is on an elite travel team. So, he travels every week starting in June and ending at the beginning of August. So, we are talking roughly eight weeks. Being 16, he can’t travel on his own. So, I try to make sure I am with him as much as possible. This requires me to manage my schedule to be able to travel and support him. Eight weeks out of the year isn’t a huge burden to figure out how to spend time with your kid.

Eight weeks of traveling can take a toll on any working parent. This is where technology comes in to make life easier for parents like our user.

With the rise of telecommuting and remote work, parents can now continue working while on the go. This means that during their child’s tournaments, they can still attend meetings, respond to emails, and complete tasks without physically being in the office. This flexibility allows them to support their child’s interests while also fulfilling their professional commitments.

Additionally, there are various tools and apps available that can help with scheduling and organization. Using a shared calendar app to coordinate schedules with their partner and other family members works nicely. You can also utilize a task management app to stay on top of work responsibilities while traveling.

Technology has not only made it easier for parents to balance work and family life, but it has also opened up new opportunities for career growth. With the rise of remote work, parents can now apply for jobs outside of their geographical location without having to sacrifice time with their families. This allows them to pursue their professional goals while still being present in their children’s lives.

Click here for a post on work life balance and getting away to relax .

Damar Hamlin (#3) – Be on a supportive team that uplifts and has your back.

Value of Project Management – you need a true Project Manager

Some tech execs complain about the value of project management and the high cost of the PMO. They claim that they don’t see the value, and the cost outweighs the benefits. Sadly, in some cases this is true. PMO’s need to keep emphasizing their value, and project managers (PMs) need to understand that they are “the PMO.” Whatever the PM does, the person receiving the service equates their work to the PMO. For better or worse.

“The PM is the PMO.”

So why do some tech executives feel that PMs are expensive overhead?

It comes down to the philosophy of the PMO (and the overall organization), i.e., the background of the PM’s hired by organization. Some organizations feel that a PM is a project plan tracker. They help build project plans, do status updates, and ensure that deliverables are produced. While this may be part of project management, these tasks do not define a PM and their role.

Successful PM’s have strong relationship, negotiation, presentation and leadership skills.

They have years of experience leading projects of all sizes and complexity. That experience has allowed the PM to see and understand risks. They are able to identify risks and issues before they blow up and impact the project. Their ability to apply remediation actions prior to the client stakeholders seeing the problems makes them successful PM’s.

Not everyone agrees with my definition of a PM.

But from my perspective, I want a very senior leader running my projects, which is what I consider PMs to be. The odds of success with a person who has years of experience leading is higher than with a person with years of experience managing plans.

In summary, the value of project management should not even be a question. A PM is a crucial role in any organization, especially in the tech industry. PMs are responsible for overseeing and executing projects from start to finish, ensuring that they are completed on time, within budget, and with high quality results. While there may be varying opinions on what exactly defines a PM, one thing is for sure – having a strong leader at the helm of a project greatly increases its chances of success.

Click here for a post on how to make projects successful at a distance.

It takes an Einstein