14 DAY TRIAL // The Sun – Oracle merger makes another victim. One of Sun's veterans, Dean Nelson, has left his job with Sun to join eBay as the senior director of global data center strategy, architecture, and operations, citing job “uncertainty.” This move comes after eBay's Data Center Chief Operator, Olivier Sanche, left the company to go to work with Apple in mid-August this year. Being in the midst of building its new, eco-friendly, sustainable data center in Salt Lake City, Utah, eBay quickly turned to a replacement, acting on Olivier Sanche's recommendation to hire Mr. Nelson.
Actually, it was Sanche who broke the news to Nelson when he called in in late July to let him know of a great “job opportunity.” The two had been quite great friends for about two years, when they started working together on different Sun – eBay collaborations, and also on a side-project called Data Center Pulse.
Justifying his decision, Dean Nelson had this to say on his blog about the Sun – Oracle merger: “In May of 2009, rumors started flying about someone acquiring Sun. Tons of speculation flowed through the media. When the official announcement came through that Oracle intended to purchase Sun, it caused many people to rethink their future.”
He also added, “But with uncertainty, I also believed it was prudent to see what options were out there. I started talking to a number of companies to do just that. It is a very interesting time in the valley.”
This well-planned movement is explained by the fact that Mr. Nelson is no stranger to eBay's latest RFP data-center project, being a consultant and external adviser on behalf of Sun since 2007, when construction began.
Being constantly involved in this project in the last few months, Mr. Nelson expressed his joy and excitement on working with the e-commerce giant. “eBay is aligned and believes in the vision – influence the industry through end users. I consider eBay one of the Uber end-users. They consume products for the datacenter, they don't sell any into it. […] I am very excited to help eBay achieve its vision of the future. I am absolutely on-board and ready to rumble.”