When Percussion - a leading vendor in Content Management solutions and services, announced its new European Partner Strategy in January 2009, along with the majority of the staff in the Percussion UK office, I was forced to seriously consider the next step in the path of my career.

As a member of the Percussion Professional Services Organisation for near to two and a half years I had the opportunity to work on many exciting projects with great customers and a fantastic support team behind the scenes. The hardest part about leaving Percussion was the dissemination of this team and the feeling that I was being forced to abandon Percussion's (or should I say 'my') customers. It was a very sad and hard time for me... but then I was introduced to Ixxus and ultimately one of my key concerns became one of the key reasons in why choosing to join Ixxus has been so exciting.

After much careful consideration I ultimately came to the conclusion that I care too much about our customers to give Percussion up completely. I do believe in the technology, the CM Server and the Percussion Approach and it would be sad to let my expertise go to waste when there is a real need out there for Percussion technologists. A huge draw card for me was that Ixxus already have a good working relationship with Percussion and some of Percussion's key UK customers (Which? and Allen & Overy to name a few).

Another factor in considering my career progression was finding a position where I could be challenged, continue to build on my domain of expertise in the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) arena, continue to work with technologies I believe in (not just the (CM Server)) and to have the opportunity to keep my hands dirty with Java - whilst making a difference to those I work with (boy that’s almost a straight snippet from my CV - LOL). Another key reason for choosing to join Ixxus was the fact that they are known as 'the' agent for Alfresco in the UK. Alfresco being a leading open source EMC technology (which I see as a great alternative to Percussion depending on the requirements and criteria) which Ixxus offer addition services around the Enterprise edition (but I am sure you already knew that).

Since joining Ixxus what I have discovered is that this is a young and exciting company which offer a fresh, open and honest approach to Professional Services. I strongly believe that the fact that they deliver, is hugely attributed to their outlook on business and the fact that they have a team of very passionate people on board - from UI compliance specialists to highly skilled Technical Architects and Content Management experts and keen technologists.

There are so many things to be excited about... with the release of the latest version of Percussion CM Server just around the corner and the opportunity to continue to work on projects I believe in and the opportunity to gain more exposure to Alfresco and possibly other ECM technologies, I'm an excited busy bee at the moment and am loving the buzz.