So, its official (see the announcement for the 13th of March, 2007). I've given up the cosy world of consulting for the hustle and bustle of a real job. I'm now the software services manager at CommSecure. I should take this opportunity to echo the bloggers motto - the words published here are entirely my own and do not represent the views of my employer. Its a bit of change for me because I'll no longer be working with ERP systems but rather looking after the team that write and support the systems that sit at the very core of the company's operations. Not only that but its a technology shift as well. Away from enterprise technologies like Oracle, Java, .Net, and the like and towards the brave new world of Linux, PostreSQL and Python. The team at CommSecure is one of the biggest concentrations of Python developers in this part of the world and that was, if I'm honest, a significant attraction of this new role. Sadly I won't be very hands on, not unless things get really hairy. So whilst I may mention the technologies in use at work here in passing most of my focus is going to be on the transition from managing people for the duration of a project to managing a team of people (and the associated projects) on a more permanent basis. Its a big challenge for me, and the first few days have illustrated how big, but I'm looking forward to it.