The Virtual Storage Guy

Kudos to the Winners of the 2011 NetApp Innovation Awards!

Each year we sponsor the NetApp Innovation Awards for customers who find new ways to utilize NetApp technology in order to benefit their business. This year we received more than 100 submissions for our award categories from executives to the uber-geeks of the data center in industries ranging from healthcare and financial services, to entertainment and energy, to education.

I’d like to personally congratulate the 2011 winners:

Innovator of the Year – Americas
GoDaddy.com

NetApp Ranked #6 on List of Great Places To Work in Europe

Quick post, did you see NetApp ranked #6 on the 25 Best Multinational Workplaces in Europe? The Great Place To Work Institute (GPTW) specifically recognizes companies that seek to create great workplaces across country borders and cultural and language differences. This year GPTW has implemented a new policy requiring companies up for consideration on the list to be listed on a minimum of 3 national Best Workplaces Lists in Europe.

This European ranking is a great accomplishment and an independent confirmation our rankings earned in 2011:

• Switzerland #2
• UK #2
• France #4
• Netherlands #5
• Germany #8

Overall the GPTW results demonstrate our commitment to becoming a company of excellence by living our corporate values. We plan to keep our strong corporate culture, integrate new team members, and achieve massive growth in the storage industry. We have a goal to becoming the #1 place to work in Europe in 2012.

With that said, why don't you consider joining us?

I’d like to thank Andreas Koenig, our VP and GM of NetApp EMEA, for allowing me to share a number of his thoughts in this post.

NetApp Raises Over $1,000,000 for St. Baldrick’s

Childhood cancer takes the lives of one of every five kids diagnosed. It takes all of us to find a cure, and then some. Two weeks ago marked our 19th and final St. Baldrick’s event, which was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NetApp raised $970,865 on the shaved heads of 353 volunteers and the donations are still coming in. When you add additional grants from our customers, NetApp will have raised well over $1,100,000 this year!

On behalf of NetApp I would like to thank all the ‘shavees’ whose fundraising efforts NetApp to becoming St. Baldrick’s top fundraising team! Truly an outstanding and incredible effort on many levels.

NetApp Ranked 5th Best Place to Work for 2011

I am very happy to share that NetApp ranked # 5 on FORTUNE Magazine’s 2011 list of “100 Best Companies to Work for”. Our continued recognition on the “100 Best” list is a testimony to our employees fueling our exceptional culture and propelling our customers’ success. This achievement could not be possible without the dedication of our senior leadership to build a model company.

Our 2011 “100 Best” award marks the 9th consecutive year that NetApp has been ranked in the top 50 on the FORTUNE list and is our 3rd consecutive year in the top 10. The FORTUNE # 5 ranking is a terrific accomplishment.

Our culture has been recognized worldwide this year with a record number of global and local “Best Companies” awards. In 2011 we earned the following rankings...

• #1 in Switzerland, Australia and RTP
• Top 5 rankings in Canada, New York, Washington, D.C., India and France
• Top 10 rankings in the UK and Germany
• #17 in the Netherlands
• #30 in EMEA
• #31 in NANE

These are all tremendous achievements and I am proud to see our strong global culture earn such recognition. Internally we will be celebrating and congratulating our leaders and employees for their contributions in 2010.

I'd encourage you to join us! As the fastest growing storage vendor we are aggressively hiring those who posses passion, talent, and the vision to create industry-leading leading technologies, products, and solutions while building a world-class company.

You may want to read the thoughts of Bart Richards, Regional director in our New York office and 10 year veteran, on working at NetApp.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our CEO, Tom Georgens for allowing me to share a number of his thoughts in this post.

NetApp #2 of the Best Places to Work in Canada

Way to go Canada! This post isn't my belated congratulations to national hockey teams, but rather a well deserved Kudos for my Canadian friends and associates for making NetApp a great place to work in Canada.

Working at a company with great culture can truly make a significant impact on your day-to-day life and career path. If you've never worked for a company with great culture you may not understand the value. Ironically, once you have, it's easy to develop a desire to only work for companies with great culture.

NetApp's #2 ranking in Canada follows similar awards recognizing NetApp as a great place to work in several other locations around the world, including:

 

• Australia - #2
• United Kingdom - #4
• France - #5
• United States - #7
• India - #9
• Netherlands - #10
• Europe - #11
• Germany - #17

We're growing and looking for exceptional talent. If you'd like to help us lift the cloud off the ground I'd urge you to head over to our careers portal. If by chance you don't find an interesting opportunity, maybe you'd consider checking again after May 1st, after we kick off the new fiscal year.

Blogging with Integrity?

Are there many things better than taking a vacation with family and friends? For me, one of the best parts of a vacation is the build up before the vacation starts. Knowing you’re work is wrapped up, the anticipation of the trip and time spent with the kids. Heck, I even get a little excited just telling friends that I’m about to start a vacation.

I spent last week on vacation with my immediate and extended family and it was great. The day before we left I even shared this news with a friend of mine, Chad Sakac of EMC.

In fact, I'd like to share with you the content of our email conversation...

Chad - Sun, 28 Mar 11:40 – I’m in Ashville, NC tonight, if you’re interested in dinner, and in the vicinity…

Vaughn – Sun, 28 Mar 12:28 – Ironically we are packing today for a vacation in the Appalachians and will pass thru Ashville tomorrow. Unfortunately I can't pop out. What are you doing in Ashville? Pleasure trip I hope.

Chad – Sun Mar 28 12:37 - Enjoy "hiking the Appalachian trail" :-) . (I’m) Giving them the "big picture" view from EMC along with VMware. Bummer I'm missing you, but enjoy your well-deserved time off.

(click on the image to view in full size)

As many know, I consider Chad Sakac a friend, even though we are fierce competitors. We talk or email with regular frequency, work on a number of joint initiatives, interact with the same customers, partners, vExperts, etc… Heck, look at the tone of our email conversation if you question our friendship.