One Year Back at the Rack

Today is my one year anniversary back at Rackspace. A year ago, I walked back through the doors of Rackspace, ready to embark on a new chapter of my career. Returning to where I had already spent significant time was both familiar and stimulating. Still, the challenges ahead were clear: redefining what it means to be a leader in the ever-evolving technology space and spearheading product recreation within the OpenStack business unit. As I reflect on the past year, it's clear that this journey has been about much more than just technology; it has been about rebuilding, rediscovering, and reimagining what Rackspace stands for in the cloud computing industry.

Familiar Foundations

Coming back to Rackspace felt like returning to my roots, but it was also a fresh start in many ways. The OpenStack landscape had changed, and so had the challenges and opportunities. The first few months were about rebuilding teams, strategies, and the vision for what we could achieve together. One of the most significant aspects of this rebuilding process was aligning our efforts with what would become the One OpenStack initiative. One OpenStack is about unifying our approach across all our products and services, ensuring we offer our customers a seamless experience. No matter where workloads reside, our OpenStack solutions have a unified foundation and provide the best Rackspace offers.

When I returned, I set out to "displace giants" and push the boundaries of what's possible with OpenStack, and I'm still committed to that aggressive messaging. We're here to disrupt the industry and bring open computing and cloud infrastructure back into the mainstream. 2024 has created many upset customers due to industry shakeups. We've seen more than a few rug pulls and an effort to consolidate tooling into oppressive ecosystems. This is where OpenStack shines; OpenStack is open and allows companies to take control of their destinies and create fantastic experiences for their administrators. At Rackspace, we all agree that our One OpenStack platform gives users the tools necessary to succeed and maintain their businesses, even in uncertain markets.

One of our achievements surrounding tooling has been the development of Genestack. Genestasck isn't a product; it's a nod to Rackspace's ability to rapidly innovate, bringing together the best talent and experience. Genestack is just the beginning of our public-facing contributions as we re-enter the Open Infrastructure community. With our new foundations, we've been working on integrating advanced computing features into our offereings and extending what it means to create hybrid cloud experiences for users. While the tools are our strategic enabler, the products are bridging the gap between single-tenant and multi-tenant environments in ways we never thought possible. Essentially, we're pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an Enterprise provider of open-source cloud solutions.

Changing

The past year has taught me that technical leadership isn't just about making the right decisions; it is about guiding people through change, inspiring folks to see the bigger picture, and empowering individuals to take ownership of their work. Over the past year, I've had the honor of working with some of the brightest minds, and together, we've rediscovered what it means to lead authentically and challenge the status quo. The focus has been on fostering a culture of innovation where ideas can flow freely, everyone feels empowered to contribute, and folks are free to make mistakes. This has meant breaking down silos, encouraging collaboration across different teams and business units, ensuring that everyone understands our shared goals, and being transparent with our challenges. As a leader, seeing the transformation within our teams has been incredibly rewarding. We've moved from a mindset of maintaining the status quo to pushing boundaries. We still have a lot to do, and our success is far from guaranteed; however, I can guarantee that Rackers will overcome whatever obstacle are put in front of them and I assure you, our Rackers are building something amazing.

Looking back

As I look back on the past year, I'm filled with pride at what we've accomplished, and I'm excited about what lies ahead. The journey of rebuilding, rediscovering, and creating is ongoing; there's so much more to come. Our One OpenStack initiative is just the first corner of the puzzle and is set to unlock incredible potential leading to a title wave of change in the industry. Our commitment to this initiative is unwavering, instilling confidence in our future direction and letting everyone know that we're back as technologists. Ultimately, my journey over the past year has been about much more than just returning to Rackspace. It's been about rediscovering my passion for innovation. While I was a technical leader when I left Rackspace, I've returned as a Director, and it has been an exciting first year in this new role. I've had the ability to work with talented people and we're energized to release products that are set to change the cloud.

I've said it once, and I'll repeat it: Rackspace is back, and we've returned to displace giants. Here's to the next chapter 🍻