I’m a true believer in evaluation based on milestones in time. That might be one of the reasons why I’ve been in the market research end of the tech industry for so long. I love to look at how technologies and strategies succeed and evolve over defined periods of time, and one hundred of anything is certainly one of those round numbers that encourages special examination. So when our Chief Strategy Officer asked me to share a few words about my first 100 days at AVANT, it seemed like a natural fit. Ironically, it came at a time when a family member was actually turning 100 years old. That’s an amazing span. She has one foot in a world that was still trying to comprehend the amazement of flying machines and the other foot in what she sees as a futuristic world resembling a Jetsons cartoon. Scratch that analogy. I’m too young to know what that is, but I’m told it was a children’s cartoon from long ago that envisioned robots and space travel.
While my “100” is not quite that expansive, we at AVANT Research & Analytics have covered a lot of ground in our first 100 days. We’ve dug through a lot of data, distilled a lot of numbers, built plenty of charts, and pulled together our first major “6-12 Report;” a detailed examination of how SD-WAN can impact enterprise businesses over the course of the next six to twelve months. In many respects, it’s a buyer’s guide that will help customers better understand the market, increase their grasp of the technology, and, as a result, ask the right questions as they navigate their evaluations.
Our team did an awesome job, if I may say so. Click here to take a look at that bad boy!
But that’s not all.
In my first 100 days, I attended my first Special Forces Summit. Talk about a deep dive into technologies, business cases, and strategies, delivered by some of the sharpest engineering minds in the industry! Here at AVANT, we’ve got more than our share of impressive, high-end talent. I’ve also published a slew of blogs and articles, traveled to Washington, DC for the launch of our 6-12 Report at the Channel Partners conference, and survived the AVANT after-party where I picked up a club and sank my first hole-in-one. Okay, it was actually on one of those little putting green strips, but I say it still counts!
We’ve also laid the groundwork for a series of podcasts, which can soon become your semi-constant companion in traffic jams and on commuter trains. We’re getting ready to launch a host of new online assets, including a variety of new blogs (like this one), new videos, and more. Plus, our next two 6-12 Reports are already in the pipeline.
We’ve got a lot to do, but I’m totally loving my role.
However, there is one formidable challenge that I’ve so far been unwilling to accept. The company’s espresso machine has been looking at me, almost mockingly – daring me to give it a try. A colleague walked me through the process once, warning me quite solemnly about the hazards of pressurized liquids. One day I’ll have to give that a shot. But I have to pace myself, you know. Blowing hot cappuccino all over the company kitchen is not a good look – especially in your first 100 days. Maybe that’s more of a 200-day thing.