Rational Survivability

[Updated below 6/8/15]

The last ten years of my professional life have been spent working for some amazing companies; architecting and building security solutions that are deployed across the globe in the most demanding circumstances imaginable.  It’s been an incredibly fulfilling, challenging and interesting set of challenges, growth opportunities and victories.

I have met amazing people across the globe and the shared perspective of collaborating and co-creating solutions with such a diverse group of people has blown my mind.

The most rewarding aspect is that I have been extremely lucky to have worked alongside really amazing teams of passionate and dedicated people.  I have learned a lot from all of them and I believe I have made a difference.  Through ups and downs, the consistency of a clear mission and a motivation to fight the good fight with credibility, authenticity and transparency has kept me energized.

At the same time, the nature of society, humanity and the way in which our industry has dramatically shifted has driven me to think about the next stage of my career and how I can apply my passion to solve really thorny problems that have equally dramatic outcomes.

I want to take the lessons I have learned and return back to role where I can apply them to help solve them.

With that as motivation, I will transition from building “fire extinguishers” and return to my roots of “fighting fires.”  I have decided to return back to the Enterprise and apply my skills to solving complex problems at a global scale.

I won’t be talking much about where I am going, but it also won’t be a secret…I just want to focus.

My family and I will be moving from California and look forward to a pace of life outside The Valley.

I will truly miss my Juniper family and the amazing company that I have spent the last 4 years helping grow.

/Hoff

Update 6/8:  I can’t say I’m really surprised, but it’s really easy for people to assume the worst when someone in a leadership spot leaves a company; that stuff is falling apart, that there is some acrimonious scenario that makes it untenable, that the strategy or execution is in peril, etc. 

Let me be pointedly clear: NONE of those things is relevant to why I chose to leave Juniper.  The re-aligned strategy and roadmap for both stand-alone and integrated (into routing, switching and SDN solutions) security has never been more solid.  The execution and leadership under Jonathan Davidson and Rami Rahim as CEO has never been better.  I really do think that what we  put together lets Juniper leverage its strengths and differentiate clearly.  I have no interest (financial) in Juniper that would motivate me to state this, but I simply hate half-truths invented by people too lazy to do actual research or ask for comment.

So why leave?  Because after four years of dedicating myself to helping getting Juniper to a better place, I need a break…I need a change of pace and time to reconnect with my family in a slower pace of life…because I need a different set of challenges (not “easier,” but different) that allows me to put my skills to use in a different way.

That’s it. If you’re an analyst, partner or customer of Juniper, don’t read anything else into my departure.  Please.  You’re doing yourself and Juniper a disservice.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me directly instead of creating your own version of the truth.