ControlUp is delighted to welcome Doug Brown to ControlUp as our Vice President of Community. For years, Doug’s name has been synonymous with building relationships amongst the tech and EUC community, as well as with IGEL’s passionate customer base. ControlUp has, since our inception, been fueled by community, too, so having Doug join us here was like welcoming a member of the family. Join us in bidding him a warm welcome, and raise three cheers for the ControlUp Community!

Five and a half years ago, I joined IGEL, intending to build a community. I’ve been part of the “EUC” Community since 1997. Over those many years, I’ve seen first hand the power of working together, sharing knowledge, and helping each other. I wanted to bring the many benefits of a community to IGEL, and we did exactly that. In that time, we grew the IGEL Community from zero to almost 9,000 members; more remarkably, we posted over 330,000 messages together. This is what I call collaboration. We did amazing things, learned tons, met fine people who became friends and learned a ton. It was a wild success.

Now, it is time to do it all over again. I’m excited to join ControlUp as Vice President of Community, tasked with sharing the passion, products, and people in ControlUp with all of you through what will be called the ControlUp Community. Plus much more! Fun around every corner! Stay tuned for a release date.

I was first introduced to the ControlUp product when it was first released, and the company had not even been founded yet, still a part of SmartX. I was always impressed by the technology and how the leadership looked at growing the company. They looked toward “community” for feedback and validation that they were on the right path. Many software companies only care about the big companies. Still, the ControlUp designers saw it differently. They realized a wealth of knowledge and experience in the community and leveraged it to build one of the best solutions in the market. They understood community! This always impressed me about ControlUp. They did not stand and say, we know better. They opened themselves to ideas, feedback, and criticism that made them the best.

That said, it is time to make this official and dedicate a resource—me—to building an official community backed by the entire company. Stay tuned for how to join and be prepared to stay up to date, learn new ways to leverage the excellent solutions, and meet others who are doing the same as you to learn from them and share. It is all about “community,” and it is a beautiful thing, as I have learned over the past 25-plus years.

I will also be hitting the road to meet you, to share the ControlUp story, to hear your stories, and share it all with the world! I can’t wait to get rolling. I will deeply miss IGEL, but I won’t be far. ControlUp and IGEL work closely together and have tight integration. If you are an IGEL or a ControlUp customer or thinking about either, you should look at both. They work superbly together and offer a great return on your investment.

BTW, my first event will be VMware Explore. If you are attending, let me know, I would love to meet up. ControlUp, IGEL, and LG are hosting a party. Who does not love a party? I hope to see you there!

With that, let the fun begin. Stay tuned, and I will see you soon!
DB