Venezuelan Beaver Cheese

The EMC blogosphere is full of "Why I Work For EMC!" posts at the moment, and to be honest, it's a concerted strategy to present EMC as the coolest and bestest employer in the tech industry. Ever.

I'm not in any doubt as to why, and if you've been following the press recently, I suspect you aren't in any doubt either. EMC bloggers are supporting the central thesis of Uncle Joe's open letter to Data Domain employees, that EMC is one of those rare things, a company that's coolest and best and biggest, the undisputed leader of companies, a world-class, #1 company.

With one voice, they're crying "I love it here! And so will you."  Which leads the inquisitive (actually, in my case, paranoid) amongst us to wonder if this is an orchestrated attempt to provide a bit of a public shove and push to the idea that corporate culture at EMC is just fine and dandy, and that there nothing to fear from being acquired. As an echo and reinforcement of Joe Tucci's message, the blogs I’ve seen definitely toe the line.

Whatever the agenda, what are they saying about why they love EMC so? There's a lot of high-falutin' sentiments on display; some personal observations about what it's like to work there, how to get promoted, where to wander round corridors talking to engineers about cool stuff, advice on what it takes to prosper, enjoy, fit in, etc etc.

The EMC they describe is like Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.

I love cheese. I've eaten a huge amount and variety in my time, from the humble Cheddar to the exotic ash covered Saint Maure. But if it was possible, the one I would really want to taste is the very rare Venezuelan Beaver Cheese. Some would have you believe that it's more than just a cheese; that it's the coolest and best and biggest cheese, the undisputed leader of cheeses, a world-class, #1 cheese.

Unfortunately, Venezuelan Beaver Cheese isn't just rare, it doesn't exist at all outside of a Monty Python sketch. Just like the picture of working at EMC we're getting from these blogs. I don't believe they're being honest with themselves.

EMC is probably more like a ripe Vieux Boulogne, a cheese that’s an acquired taste best washed down with strong drink. Co-incidentally, it has the unenviable reputation for being the world's smelliest.

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Update 15June2009: In the "I wish I'd said that" category; Jay Kidd's blog post on EMC's bid for Data Domain.

Comments

[Tom Burrell]

...and this morning I get a tweet from NetApp about how Fortune listed it as "#1 Place to work"

Pot... meet kettle.

[Mike]

Alex -

Why is it when employees of EMC and NetApp are both offered a confidential workplace survey, NetApp comes out on top and EMC is, well, not?

Why is it we are able to take tremendous pride in a real achievement - and EMC bloggers sink to spinning yarns on 'how great it is to be at EMC'?

I've worked at both EMC and now NetApp. I came to both companies of my own accord, and left EMC on my own terms. I am still at NetApp, and suspect I will be here until a truly better company comes along.

I've learned a lot at EMC - there is no doubt. I learned the power of marketing. I learned strong selling skills.

I also learned that EMC is indeed a great place to work - for a few.

[Keith Brown]

I have to say though Alex, I personally got a huge kick out of this particular effort by an EMC guy called Scott Waterhouse:

http://tinyurl.com/waterhouse-dross

Specifically, it was this part that caused me to spit my coffee out all over my laptop:

"4) Effort and leadership is rewarded. [...] Those individuals who make exceptional contributions (either to sales, or to other corporate goals) are invariably rewarded."

Well.... You can't really argue with that, can you? I mean, just look at Dave Donatteli for example, a man who gave 20+ years of his career to EMC, and who by all accounts made all kinds of "exceptional contributions" to that company at the very highest of levels. He's in the process of collecting his reward right now.... directly from EMC's legal department!

So... In the event Data Domain were to get bought by EMC, hopefully none of their employees will ever want to leave, or if they do, they should at least try and avoid being on the grounds of Joe Tucci's mansion when they hand in their resignation, lest the last thing they hear from EMC is "Smither's.... Release the hounds!" :-)

[Alex McDonald]

Tom

#1 on FORTUNE Magazine’s 2009 list of “100 Best Companies to Work for”.  The Great Place to Work Institute placed us #9 in India. #4 in the UK. #2 in Australia.

Dan Warmenhoven, NetApp's CEO, is proud of this, and hasn't been shy about coming forward on the topic. Some NetApp bloggers have posted on this too, so I understand why you might think -- pot, kettle, black.

So how does this differ? Aren't bloggers at NetApp just as guilty of pumping the CEO and corporate line?

In my opinion, no.

Difference 1. NetApp has a set of metrics that support the claim. (It was ever thus; think NetApp, EMC and SPC benchmarks.) The Great Place to Work Institute awards are based on anonymous input from a company's staff, with a large sample size. I completed one in the UK; 20 questions or more, from what I liked and disliked about the company, my management, my working environment, through to company benefits and so on.

Difference 2. NetApp's not changed, so we don't need to explain. These awards have confirmed what we are, and what everyone else outside NetApp knows; that NetApp was, and still is, a great place to work. (And I won't be explaining why I work at NetApp on a public forum any time soon. I don't feel the need to wear my heart on my sleeve.)

Difference 3. We all work here for different reasons. There's a feeling of synchronized swimming about the EMC blogs; all long bronzed legs and white flashing teeth in time to the Tucci beat. I work here for reasons that I understand, but I'll bet it's a different reason from any of my colleagues in the local office, in the UK, in EMEA, worldwide. We're individuals, not clones.

Joe Tucci's letter is Joe Tucci's view of EMC. Dan's justifiable pride in NetApp being #1 is reflecting the opinion that really counts; the people that work at NetApp. That's a huge difference.

[James]

You are right Alex, there are a lot of EMCers who feel compelled to talk about their experience of working at EMC. This may be in light of other people trying to suggest that EMC has a very bad culture and is a terrible place to work. Well, if EMC is such a bad place to work, why do we have so little churn in our teams? Of course people leave and join other organizations - we also recruit good people from other firms (including competitors). That's just the nature of the business.

The truth is that the culture of a large company is different from that of a small company - that doesn't make it bad, it makes it different. I have worked for both, big and small, and I can recognize the pros and cons of both.

Speaking personally, I have been at EMC for nearly 4 years, I love my job, I like the people that I work with - both co-workers and customers and I have respect for the people who lead the company.

I would imagine that NetApp is also a great place to work as evidenced by the Fortune listing. Culturally different from EMC but again, different doesn't equate to bad.

Whatever happens over the coming weeks, what is true is that there are plenty of people in my office who joined EMC as part of Legato, Documentum, Avamar, RSA and Infra to name but a few. Our little family continues to grow and Data Domain folks would be very safe and very welcome at EMC.

[Geert]

"Of course people leave and join other organizations - we also recruit good people from other firms (including competitors). That's just the nature of the business."

Please tell Donatteli that you've explained that to Tucci...

[Chad Sakac]

Alex - for one, no one told me to do/post anything. It's also true of the other folks who posted. Like most social media, there is a tendency for few to influence many. It is likely true that my colleagues, like me, spent a little time thinking about their experience after reading Joe's open letter, and it prompted them to write.

No one here begrudged NetApp's Fortune accomplishment - in fact, we publicly congratulated you and I think, on the whole, were pretty magnanimous.

I also don't claim that my EMC experience is necessarily anyone else's.

While "no man is an island", in a sense we are. We each live our lives seeing things with our eyes, and they are our experiences. I don't judge your NetApp experience, because I haven't experienced it. Likewise, the reverse is also true. Heck, we could switch places, and the experiences wouldn't be the same - as we're not the same people.

@Mike - in the same way you have your story, and I'm genuinely happy that you're happy - there are many former NetApp folks at EMC - like most industries - there's a fair amount of cross-pollination.

@Alex - I know you hate us with the fury of a thousand suns - but dude, on this one you're off. And, for what it's worth - I think the tone doesn't help you, or NetApp (as there are equal cases on our side)

I'm going back to trying to build things up, not tear them down..... I hard (not perfectly) try to be consistent, and my public record speaks for me - good/bad/ugly - all in.

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/06/a-multivendor-post-to-help-our-mutual-nfs-customers-using-vmware.html

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/01/a-multivendor-post-to-help-our-mutual-iscsi-customers-using-vmware.html

and many more.

[Alex McDonald]

@Chad

I hate EMC "with the fury of a thousand suns"? I'm laughing at that one!

Seriously, Chad, here's a short list of things I really hate. I hate paperwork, because it's boring and frustrating when I think I've lost another essential piece of paper. I hate going to the dentist, becuase it hurts. I hate my neighbour's dog, because it humps my leg even though my leg is very un-dog-like.

EMC doesn't even come close. At worst it's a Garrison Keillor kind of hate; "hate something, change something, make something better".

As to writing about you, I wasn't. This piece was written June 11th, but I was waiting for some boilerplate legal stuff that you can now see on the right top. So stop fretting, you posted after that, and I hadn't even read your blog entry until today. I believe what you wrote was sincerely meant.

As for the rest; I'm going to paraphrase Dave Hitz.

Even though we disagree, Sun and NetApp can keep working together as major IT vendors to effectively support our shared customers.

It's a form of co-opetition. Swap Sun for EMC, and the sentiment is the same. As you point out, we co-operate together to effectively support our shared customers (well VMware's and NetApp's shared customers anyhow). Disagreeing with you and other EMC bloggers when I think you're wrong is the competition bit.

[Mike]

Chad - you are correct, there has been cross pollination. I even knew some ex-NetAppers while at EMC. In every instance, they have left for money - and you have used that lure ($$) in attempting to recruit away our top people in the Virtualization space, and not ONE of them took you up on it.

What kind of place is NetApp when EMC offer's 50K+ more to each of them and they say 'No Thank You'??

Why is this place different? You'd have to experience it to understand, or of course you could simply look at the facts worldwide - we are a top spot to work everywhere it is measured, and we are darn proud of the fact. We all work hard at creating a great place to work every single day.

The result is that has grown it's market share of the VMware storage space about 400% in the past 2 years. (From 6% to 24% as per the analysts you yourselves quote)

The result is that everyone is clearly focused and energized to do our very best for whomever chooses to be our customer. Notice I said: "chooses". You won't find us in a CIO's office throwing his team under the bus in an effort to gain a customer. That is simply not in our bag of tricks.

It is the culture Chad. We do it very, very well. Culture trumps all.

[David Nutt]

A good story

GK Chesterton: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

Voila: www.tastingtoeternity.com. This book is a poetic view of 30 of the best loved French cheeses with an additional two odes to cheese. Recipes, wine pairing, three short stories and an educational section complete the book.

From a hectic life in New York City to the peace and glories of the French countryside lead me to be the co-founder of www.fromages.com. Ten years later with the words of Pierre Androuet hammering on my brain:

“Cheese is the soul of the soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.”

I took pen and paper; many reams later with the midnight oil burning Tasting to Eternity was born and self published.

I believe cheese and wine lovers should be told about this publication.

Enjoy.