That is the question isn’t it.  One of the single most difficult professional decisions anyone will make is, do I stay comfortable as a master code slinger, or do I step into the world of management?

For me it always seems to be the other way around.  I never got into hard-core programming until I was a one man shop or in a managerial/lead role.  And I truly love to write software applications, I find it to be such a rewarding activity.  Specially when others are using, and better yet, making money using the software you have developed.

Though time and time again I am pulled to lead instead of producer.  Maybe I am just slow and sucky and nobody has the heart to tell me?  It’s possible, sure.

Fact is, I am there again at my current job and this time I am really, really OK with it.  I am managing Information Systems again, which I seem to always have a bear of a time with aystem admin’s ( I think it’s because I spent 8 years as one myself).  So that isn’t the highlight here, but a necessity of the corporation.  What I am heading up is Information Security, and that has me really charged up.  I have always worked with security, at both a technical and managerial level.  It is a really important step in my corporation’s life and I am going to bring them to that level while at the same time, bring myself up a few levels too.  It is exciting, scary, overwhelming and challenging.  What else can I ask for out of job?

I have made the hard and firm decision to obtain my CISSP certification.  My goal is to sit for it in October; kind of  a birthday gift to myself.  I have looked at this certification for years and shied away from it.  Not this time, I will complete it.  I know at least three of our clients have asked if we have a CISSP certified member on staff in the last year.  It’s a logical supported next step, and having support from senior management is always a big plus.

Now here is the other exciting side to this. I will not be coding much at all at work.  Why is this exciting to me?  Simple, I will not be tired of coding and I can work on my own projects!  There is nothing I like better than coding stuff I want to.  I would guess most core developers think this way.  I have lent a hand to some open source project and developed some of my own crazy stuff.  My current one, which I personally find very useful is BD File Hash.  A Windows Forms base file hashing and hash compare tool.  Hey someday ask me what the BD stands for.

So as you can see I am hitting the best of both worlds here.  I am greatly improving my professional aptitude and still able to do the things I really enjoy doing. On top of it, I work two miles from my house, so I am not a complete stranger to my family.

Don’t worry, I”ll always remain  your IT Slug!