10 Things I Wish I Did in University

As presented in front of students of ITB, Itenas, UI and Bina Nusantara university as part of Indonesian Networkers 2012 event 26-28 March in Bandung and Jakarta.

Dream. Fight. Love. Live. Seize the day!

Cisco Live, Indonesia and Beyond

Now I'm in Melbourne, Australia, for Cisco Live 2012. It's been very interesting so far, so many great breakout sessions, many great speakers, and so many professionals from different countries in one place.

Yesterday I delivered 8-hour technical seminar together with CCIE Program Manager and lots of Red Bull.

There is iphone apps (and android) for this event if you are interested.

It's been fun, but I'm also very excited because next week I will have chance to meet many Indonesian professionals and students. As planned from early this year, I will visit 4 universities in 2 different cities in Indonesia to share my experience working as 'Global Consultant'.

On Wednesday next week I will conduct free workshop for Indonesian professionals where I will talk freely about my project experiences, technology update, career as network professional, and many more.

I'm currently thinking seriously about the idea to create non-profit organization to organize all my efforts like regular WebEx session, social media and onsite meetings in order to help professionals and students in my country so they can be ready to work and to compete in global market.

Now is the best time to really do something.

How to Kill a Big Company

I always laugh everytime someone says: "here is a new technology that will kill the X company!" Why we want to see the fall of a company, it's something beyond me. Perhaps because we all like to see new hero to raise to fight the evil domination, but once the hero wins and becomes the new dominant rule, we call him the new evil and look for another hero to raise. I guess Guy Kawasaki is right, we men always like to kill.

Obviously in computer networking field I've been hearing about the SDN/openflow concept which is really interesting. So many posts flying around on the Internet to talk about it. But one that caught my attention recently was from the great Packet Pushers here. My post today is not about the debate between openflow versus traditional networking technology. The question is, will new technology like SDN/openflow really kill big networking companies like Cisco or Juniper?

Many years ago, I heard many open source folks who shout "Linux will kill Microsoft", "open source is the future", "here is the apps that will kill Microsoft Office". And how is Microsoft today?

I have to be straight here: we techie or geek will never understand why good product sometimes doesn't sell.

We always need good and new innovation. There are many problems in the world that need new technology. But once new product comes up, will it be able to kill the 'traditional' or today's business model that utilizes the current technology?

I use Mac and until now can't get away from Microsoft Office due to the business community where I'm at that still rely on it. Masses out there still get Microsoft Windows OS pre-installed. And majority of today's network devices communicate to each other using the infrastructure built by the two big networking vendors.

I'm not saying Linux is not good nor openflow is not brilliant. But to make bold statement one new innovation or technology will kill the big company, I would say is a bit naive.

These are the facts for those who want to kill big company:

- there are many "today's problems" that being solved by using "today's solution". Openflow is good but until we see the acceptance from masses to confirm it can solve all today's problems, I would consider it just as another great innovation
- based on our experience in the past, usually it's the support from the big company that can make new innovation or new technology gain the momentum in the market
- the thing is, today's big company is in the middle of the market, they talk to the customers, they know what the customers want vs need, they can map business justification of what and when the new technology should be introduced to the market. These market knowledge is obviously an advantage and less likely in possession on the researchers who made the innovation or some start-up companies who try to make the products based on the new technology
- even if the big company is late to introduce new technology, they have huge customer bases who currently trust them as the business partner. It will be easier for the big company to come up with the products later on while introduce some enhancements, and the existing customers most likely will stick with them and won't take risk to move to a new company
- and let's just say the big company is still very lame (even company like Cisco spend about 1 Billion USD annualy for R&D, let's assume they are completely in the wrong direction) when they see the new innovation is gaining momentum through some start up companies, what's stopping them to acquire those start ups? :)

Based on my limited view working for several big companies like IBM or Cisco, I believe it's not the new innovation that can kill a big company. Big company can simply adapt to changes. That's why IBM remains big today because they switched from one large mainframe mindset to distributed computing architecture while ago. They survive. I guess Cisco and Juniper will survive too from openflow since now they adapt to it. Look at Juniper QFabric and latest Nexus development and you will see.

But few things that can kill a big company are: inflexibility, inefficiency and wrong decisions. And bad publications. Wrong vision is fine, as long as the company is flexible enough, and efficient enough to change the direction. With good way to deliver the message on the news too.

But if a company is so stubborn and keep making wrong decisions, combined with bad messages in page 1 news, someday the investors will pull out.

And that's how to kill a big company.

What's Inside the Bag?

I always travel light. I like to carry only one backpack, for my computer, clothes and everything else. The reason is because it makes me faster to go out from destination airport since I don't need to wait for checked-in luggage. And sometimes I have to travel to the countries where the baggage handling is not really reliable, I want to avoid the situation of losing the bag. Last but not least, if I want to extend my trip and go to different place using budget airline I don't have to pay extra for the luggage since I have only one cabin bag.

What's inside my bag?

Macbook air, Cisco badge, headphones, and one water resistant box contains all my electronic accessories e.g. macbook and iphone chargers, VPN token, universal power socket adapter, adapter for projector, adapter for ethernet, portable speakers, all USB and ethernet cables.
Sometimes I bring lightweight book, just in case I want to read.
Perfume, tooth brush and tooth paste inside airport approved plastic bag.
Four sets of clothes, North Face water proof jacket, swim wear, spare pant.

I don't need to carry lots of clothes since I always wear a jacket. When you wear suit or jacket nobody pays attention to the shirt underneath :)

Why tooth brush and tooth paste? Now even top airlines like Emirates or Singapore airline stop giving them for free inside the lavatory! And I always stay in 5-star or 4-star hotel but in some countries they don't provide one as well. If I have stay in one place for few weeks I'd simply buy the stuff.

All the items make the backpack weight around 8 kg only. No airline will refuse me to carry 8 kg bag to the cabin. And the set was more than enough for me to travel for 2 to 3 weeks continuously before going back home.

It's Not More Time That We Need

February has been a very busy time for me. First, because I have to travel back to back for 3 weeks within this month. Second, because I'm leading three concurrent projects at the same time for three customers in two different countries. Third, I also need to help the program manager finalizing the CCIE presentations we will be presenting in Cisco Live Melbourne next month. Fourth, since I travel to South Africa and Nigeria I use the opportunity to deliver free CCIE R&S Unofficial session over there. And last but not least, during my busy time I still conduct several free WebEx sessions with technical subjects like IPv6 for Indonesian professionals and students.

Now I'm in Lagos, Nigeria, doing design workshop with the customer. Yes, it's the same place where I have to use armed escort between the airport and the hotel.

I will host CCIE R&S session here this Friday, then while waiting for my flight to Johannesburg next Monday, I will conduct another WebEx session in my native language to discuss the architecture of Cisco ASR9000.

Even the schedule is really tight, I still believe it's not more time that I need. But less distraction. Appreciate and utilize any available time and try not to get distracted easily in order to focus, and one can deliver many things even within a very limited time.

Profit, Passion, Purpose

Tony Hsieh, the visionary CEO of Zappos, in his book Delivering Happiness shares how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented success, based on the different lessons he has learned in business and life.  One thing I took from his book: most of us work to make profit (or financial gain) in mind at the beginning, then move to a state where we want to work on something we are passionate about, and finally reach the last state where we want to contribute to bigger community; to have a higher purpose other than for ourselves.

Tony is not an ordinary CEO. First, he was already damn rich in 1999 when he sold the company he co-founded, LinkExchange, to Microsoft for $265 million. Second, Zappos started the business in online retailer by only selling shoes at that time. You must be wondering, who's on earth would buy shoes online? The answer is the third point, Tony and his team turned Zappos from a small online retailer with no sale, into doing over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales every year, within 10 years. Until today Zappos is still listed as one of Fortune magazine's 100 best companies to work for, and was acquired by Amazon in 2009 in a deal valued at over $1.2 billion on the day of closing.

I'm still far behind what Tony has achieved in life. Right now I still work for a corporate, with mix target between gaining financial stability and working on the field that I like. I'm nowhere near Tony's courage to drop everything he had in life to focus on developing Zappos. Even currently I've been trying to set up something outside my work. But for a while I have felt that I need to do more, I need to do things to fulfill my purpose: to live life to the fullest and at the same time to provide benefits for others whenever I can.

With that in mind, I set my target in 2012 to focus on helping the IT professionals and students from my country so they can be ready to work and to compete in global market, just like what I do now. I will only do the things that I know best: sharing my knowledge and experience to my country men, with hope that they will gain some benefits from it. I can give advice on career and Cisco certification program to the students, and I can share some network design case studies and my project experiences to the professionals.

On the last week of March, after my trip to Melbourne to present at Cisco Live, I'm planning to pass by Indonesia for few days to conduct free session and workshop for students and professionals. So far I've got positive response: there are 4 universities in two cities that are willing to host the session, and there is one training institute that will provide a location in central Jakarta for me to conduct the free 6-hours workshop.

What I will do, you may consider it as a small contribution.
But I consider it just as the first step.

And then what?

You went to the best school in the country. You studied hard competing with many others. And finally you were graduated. And then what?

You got accepted in your first job. You worked hard trying to distinguish yourself from others. And finally you got yourself a promotion. And then what?

You were among the best at work. Suddenly you felt money is not the object anymore. Finally you could afford all the things you always wanted. And then what?

It's a new year and I feel like I haven't done much during the past one year to contribute to the community. For 2012 I set a target to put more focus on helping the professionals and students from my country so they know how to compete in global market too. Expect more WebEx sessions, more writings, more social media, and more knowledge and experience sharing workshops.

The new year's eve has passed. The firework show is over. Those who went out for hangover are already in bed.
And then what?

Happy new year 2012.