This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by Jared Richardson. Original Post: I've left SAS and am on the market Feed Title: Jared's Weblog Feed URL: http://www.jaredrichardson.net/blog/index.rss Feed Description: Jared's weblog. The web site was created after the launch of the book "Ship It!" and discusses issues from Continuous Integration to web hosting providers. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by Jared Richardson Latest Posts From Jared's Weblog

What could compel someone to leave SAS, one of the best companies around? Simply put, a chance to work with Ruby on Rails.

Of course, the decision was a bit more complicated than just Rails. Life is a very complex equation.

I wanted to do more speaking and writing. Although my management at SAS let me pursue these interests, it's very difficult to put in a full day's work and then come home and start the second shift. I have two lovely daughters and a wife who wanted to see me from time to time. :)

Also, an opportunity to work with the guys at Relevance presented itself. It's not everyday you get a chance to work with Stuart Halloway and Justin Gehtland.

A few other very exciting opportunities have also surfaced, but I can't talk about them quite yet. All in all, the temptations outside of SAS were just too great to resist.

I'll be working as an independant consultant. I've already started working with Relevance on some Rails projects but I'm planning on setting up some training courses and start casting for additional consulting gigs.

My background with Continuous Integration at both small and large companies (here's an example) would make me a good candidate for looking at your company's build process. If you're trying to introduce Continuous Integration or just streamline your existing process, drop me a line and we can talk.

A lot of the ideas in Ship It! deal with the golden triangle of software development. When's the last time you turned a critical eye towards your shop's infrastructure? What tools are you using? Are you using them as effectively as possible? What process are you using to build your software? Have you looked at how your teams are working? If you've read Ship It! and you like the ideas, I'd be glad to work with your teams and launch those ideas in your shop.

I'm currently working on a Ruby and Rails driver for the Ingres database. It seems a shame to learn all about writing Ruby database drivers and then only write one. :)

I've been so busy in the last few weeks that I've not had the time to properly polish this post. As I get caught up I'll add a services offered page on the website and try to get the various biography pages updated.

The future looks bright and I'm looking forward to this new stage in my career. I've had the chance to work with some very talented people through the years and it looks like that trend is continuing! Thanks everyone.

Jared