* Darryl Solie rejuvenated his engineering career by moving into a customer-facing role
Darryl Solie spent 24 years at IBM developing the company’s server and storage products. The people he’d communicate with every day were IBM people and he had little contact with customers. He’d gained broad technical knowledge in his role but he felt stagnant in his career. That was until 5 years ago when IBM set up a Engineering & Technology Services (E & TS) team where he became one of a few IBM engineers to go out onto customer sites and talk to them about potential ways in which the vendor could work with the customer to extend the customer’s own technology.
Although the change in job role was scary at first, Solie says the move “rejuvenated my enthusiasm for technology,” and he believes the model of working with customers on “collaborative innovation” will open many more doors for those seeking careers in the engineering, technology and business fields.
Based in Rochester, Minn., Solie as IBM distinguished engineer describes himself as a chief systems architect, helping customers such as Mayo Clinic and Boeing to combine their technologies with IBM’s for specific applications. In March 2006, IBM formalized the team and established the Technology Collaborations Solutions (TCS) group.
Solie’s move 5 years ago was not without its challenges as the learning curve was pretty steep, says Solie. New to the position, he remembers diving head first without formal negotiation training into intensive week-long meetings with IBM business folks and execs from the customer company to thrash out a deal worth $100 million. “We negotiated on the delivery expectation, the terms and conditions of the delivery and the legal aspects of it. All of the different aspects [of the deal] were promised on the fundamentals of IBM technology. The meetings got so intense because the negotiations were so challenging. Negotiations went from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and later, for a week. During the whole week we [IBM folks] had to take time out six or eight times to discuss what our position was,” he says.
Despite the lack of formal training, Solie says the experience opened his eyes to contract negotiations where preparation, the ability to listening carefully to the customer, and knowing what is negotiable, are part the art of negotiations.
Solie says there was no formal training when the E & TS team was first established because the area of technology collaboration was so new. But under TCS, there is now a formal mentoring program in which Solie and other engineers mentor IBM veterans who have been at the company 15 to 20 years, and newbies who have been with the company for less than 5 years. There are some formal classroom training, says Solie, but mostly it is 1-1 or 1-2 training centered around discussing aspects of deals that they may be working on and client visits. Solie is usually still the sole technical engineering representative in meetings with prospective customers.
Solie says his role is best suited to technologists who are comfortable dealing with new people. “There are engineers who really want to do just that – engineering. But there are others who have a different sort of soft/interpersonal skills.”
For people starting out in their IT careers who are interested in customer-facing roles, Solie suggests taking communications and public speaking classes. For IT pros who have been around for a while but want to rejuvenate their careers as Solie did but may feel uncomfortable with new people, do as Solie did – join a golf club to help yourself feel comfortable in non-technical social environments.
“Anytime there’s a chance for a new horizon most people will find it exciting and rewarding,” he says.
