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Moving on

September 27th, 2006 · 58 Comments · Four pillars

After nearly ten years at Dresdner Kleinwort, I shall be leaving the bank at
the end of this week. It’s been a wonderful time: I’ve had the opportunity
to work with many truly talented people, been given the freedom to
experiment with real innovation in technology and its application,
experienced being part of a close and resilient culture over a decade of
tumult and change. But now it’s time to move on. My thanks to all concerned.

I’ve never worked for a competitor in my life, either by accident or design.
That trend serendipitously continues, and from 1st October I am taking over
as CIO, Global Services, BT.

My best wishes to all at Dresdner Kleinwort, especially to those who have
worked with me, supported me and encouraged me. You know who you are.

Tags: Four pillars

58 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Clarence Fisher // Sep 27, 2006 at 11:07 am

    Although we have not known each other long, I believe that you are a person who the world needs to know. You think clearly and powerfully on issues of change in our world. Congratulations, good luck, and I dearly hope that this space continues with its reflection and depth.

  • 2 zakmundo // Sep 27, 2006 at 12:15 pm

    JP - huge congrats on this new role. My regret is that we never spoke enough! Z.

  • 3 Lars Plougmann // Sep 27, 2006 at 12:57 pm

    JP, all the best in your new role, I hope it will be one where you can take your visions and confusions forward. And I look forward to continuing the discussion here.

  • 4 Nigel Verdon // Sep 27, 2006 at 12:59 pm

    Best of luck mate

  • 5 Tim Raynor // Sep 27, 2006 at 1:15 pm

    All the best in your new role.

  • 6 tim cropley // Sep 27, 2006 at 1:35 pm

    good luck JP - continue with the blogging !

  • 7 stephen ashton // Sep 27, 2006 at 1:42 pm

    As we have discussed many time, publishing this on the blog will mean that only about ten people will see it :o), thereby restricting your bar bill. Leave it to me and I will ensure that everbody gets to know. On a serious note, thanks for all the help and the fun. I would have called but I’m on BT ……

  • 8 Myrto Lazopoulou // Sep 27, 2006 at 2:05 pm

    Congratulations!

  • 9 Euan // Sep 27, 2006 at 2:14 pm

    Congratulations JP. A beer is probably in order some time - give me a shout.

  • 10 JP // Sep 27, 2006 at 2:28 pm

    Thank you for the kind words everyone. And Widow Twankey, I was not blogging my way out of a “leaving drinks”. I just thought the blog was the best way to tell people, given my views on aspects of e-mail….

    And I must admit I am tempted to use a wiki to deal with the leaving do in terms of location and rsvp etc, even if I blog the invite. Eat my own dogfood :-)

  • 11 Ashok Tailor // Sep 27, 2006 at 3:19 pm

    Congratulations JP!

    Keep up the blogging.

  • 12 Dennis Howlett // Sep 27, 2006 at 3:36 pm

    Congratulations on ladnigin one of the most importqant jobs in the UK JP. I wish you all eht every best and expect you’ll do rather well. Look forward to letting us know what it is like working inside one the great British behemoths.

    I wonder if they have a blog policy and if so, what it is? If you come across Peter Cochrane - who was there some yars back - he’s one of the sharpest insightful minds it’s ever been my pleasure to hear.

  • 13 Carl Kim // Sep 27, 2006 at 4:28 pm

    All the very best, JP. It’s been a pleasure working with you and listening to your views that challenge conventional wisdom.

  • 14 Sean // Sep 27, 2006 at 4:48 pm

    ok ok everyone, enough of the hagiography… he’s not dead yet, and don’t let all this ‘I’m not worthy claptrap’ about being confused fool you.
    And to be absolutely frank, I’m not even sure that this blog is real. I mean for all I know it could be a splog right?

    ;)

  • 15 JP // Sep 27, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    :-) the blog may be a splog, but I haven’t figured out a way of ghosting the payment for the drinks…. now that would be innovative….

  • 16 John Hegarty // Sep 27, 2006 at 6:02 pm

    Lurked on here for quite a while - except on CSNY - this is a daily must read for me. Had to offer my best wishes and to thank you publicly for helping me in the past. Hopefully our paths will cross again - more likely now that you are at BT. I’m still having a great time running IS at Betfair.

  • 17 bobby orbach // Sep 27, 2006 at 8:06 pm

    hey buddy,
    it’s only an extension :) with perhaps more freedom to do the great things you have always wanted to do
    good luck, all the best
    dont change yourself, change your environment

    bobby

  • 18 Thinking about the Future // Sep 27, 2006 at 8:20 pm

    JP Rangaswami leaves investment banking… but hopefully not blogging

    Over on the ‘work blog’, I’ve posted a couple of entries this week, following up on posts by ‘Confused of Calcutta’, JP Rangaswami. He posts today that he’s leaving London-based investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort, to join our former telecoms mono…

  • 19 Mike // Sep 27, 2006 at 8:39 pm

    Good for BT and about time too! Congratulations and all the best. Keep it up.

  • 20 Teblog // Sep 27, 2006 at 10:17 pm

    JP to become BT’s CIO

    JP Rangaswami is one of the most thoughtful people I’ve encountered in the blogosphere. Sometimes his meanderings leave me irritated and baffled. At other times they are like a laser beam cutting through the hyperbole that exists in the marketplace

  • 21 Deepak Wassan // Sep 28, 2006 at 4:34 am

    Congratulations JP and all the best for your new assignment.

  • 22 Jackie Danicki » JP jumps ship // Sep 28, 2006 at 8:20 am

    [...] My mate JP Rangaswami - one of the most important thinkers in the spaces of technology, networks, conversation, the internet, and a bunch of other subjects - has left investment bank DrKW and joined BT Global Services as their CIO. When I heard this news the other day, I wasn’t entirely surprised; I knew JP had lots of companies after him. But I was surprised - and remain so - that BT is smart enough to get someone like JP, who describes himself as “a retarded hippie at heart“, on their board. I might just have to stop damning them to hell all the time. In fact, I might just have to buy some shares in BT… Posted by Jackie Danicki | [...]

  • 23 Steve Harrington // Sep 28, 2006 at 10:39 am

    Good luck JP, I’m sure BT will be a much better place once you’ve shown them how it’s done.

  • 24 rama // Sep 28, 2006 at 11:51 am

    Congratulations JP on the new assignment, and all the best for the new beginning! Best, chutki

  • 25 YGG // Sep 28, 2006 at 12:17 pm

    Congrats & please keep on blogging!

  • 26 Mike Sigal // Sep 28, 2006 at 2:20 pm

    This is amazing news JP! You brought so much energy, innovation and leadership in your role at DK…I can only imagine what you’ll inspire at BT and beyond. Congratulations and best wishes!

  • 27 Please go quicker « JP Roboswami // Sep 29, 2006 at 12:04 am

    [...] In a victory of form over function the Robo Namedropper will spread bitterness to another company. [...]

  • 28 gladtoseethebackofyou // Sep 29, 2006 at 12:07 am

    In a victory of form over function the Robo Namedropper will spread bitterness to another company.

    Dresdner now has an excellent IT department, better now you’ve left, but it was created as a collective reaction against you rather than with you: a community frustrated from above creates hero do-ers out of bitterness.

    As a journalist and conference shmoozer you may be second to none, but as a CIO you’ve thrown literally £ millions away trying to be a VC darling where you really don’t have the technical skill. I hope BT has the sense to overview all your purchases to ensure you practice a modicum of dilligence, let alone the due dilligence that was missing from at least 5 projects at Dresdner.

    If you’re interested in personal growth bare this in mind: the questioning by others of your ideas is not a challenge, in fact it’s healthy. Bullying, threatening people’s careers or talking endless garbage until questioners fall asleep is childish and empty.

    Please please, for the sake of BT, go back to being a journalist: it’s what (and all) you’re very good at.

    This is a sad day for BT Global Services, though I suspect you’ll be protected from above by those unwilling to be found out for what a huge mistake they’ve just made. Are you sure you’re not really being paid by Deutsche Telecom?

    Good riddance, maybe now there can be some open communication at Dresdner.

  • 29 alexis // Sep 29, 2006 at 10:56 am

    best of luck JP, please keep up the blogging and don’t forget to use CAPITALS at random ;-)

  • 30 Fabian S-C // Sep 29, 2006 at 11:27 am

    JP,

    Sorry to see that there are still a few eunuch bloggers floating about at DK!
    Not always au fait with what you were banging on about but I’m sure it was relevant!! One of the bonkers ones who hung around with the Park Paradigm crew, ergo a good guy !
    Good luck….F

  • 31 The Park Paradigm » JP is out of “the zone” // Sep 29, 2006 at 11:30 am

    [...] JP is leaving Dresdner Kleinwort and the crowds are lining the route, some throwing flowers and some throwing broken bottles…anyhow reminded me of one of my favorite (among many) Kathy Sierra posts on the “physics of passion”: The most popular and well-loved companies, products, and causes have the strongest opponents. [...]

  • 32 Andy Rowland // Sep 29, 2006 at 11:35 am

    good luck JP has been great fun working with you and knowing you over these past years and hope you have as much fun at BT as you did at DrKW.

    Good Luck

    Andy

  • 33 andy thomas // Sep 29, 2006 at 2:02 pm

    Good Luck!!

  • 34 Dipen // Sep 29, 2006 at 3:27 pm

    Good luck JP - your leadership at DK created a slick operation on a minimal budget. I know because I had to face off against clients both from a sales and operational perspective. Maybe now my BT shares will start to pick up again….;-)

  • 35 JP // Sep 30, 2006 at 8:37 am

    Thanks for the comments everyone, I really appreciate it. Taking Sean’s point about being out of the Zone, I am reminded of a Justin Hawkins quote, where he said that the Darkness take their music very seriously, they just don’t take themselves seriously. Woe is me if I start believing too much in my own propaganda. Bouquet or brickbat.

  • 36 Gordon Cook // Oct 1, 2006 at 2:34 pm

    Gee - talk about being late to the party! Congratulations JP. A new day indeed!

  • 37 Gordon Cook // Oct 1, 2006 at 5:42 pm

    Al-Noor Ramji is still at BT I hope. He must be! He was a significant mentor of JP at Dresdner. It looks to me like Al-Noor is gaining a like minded visionary and long time fried to whor with him on a task that will be far larger than Dresdner.

    The men think in similar ways - if you doubt read this:

    http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2157961/bt-wants-google

    BT is ready to make the necessary changes in order to take on Google, according to the telco’s chief information officer.

    Al-Noor Ramji told delegates at the Gigaworld IT conference in Lisbon that BT needs to keep pace with Google, which has ” morphed” from a search engine into a business straddling the consumer technology area.

    “We see Google as our biggest threat,” said Ramji. “They don’t mean to, it’s almost incidental.”

    He acknowledged that Google comes from a “different world” but is expanding fast to meet consumers’ needs. [snip]

    Cook: fortunately for the productivity of the UK it may be a while longer before JP starts a school…..

    But heymaybe BT will start a school?

    The possibilities are huge!

  • 38 Cook’s Collaborative Edge » Blog Archive » Rangaswami Joins Ramji to implement Global Tech Policy for BT // Oct 1, 2006 at 8:54 pm

    [...] On Sept 27 on JP’s blog: [...]

  • 39 Tom Ayerst // Oct 3, 2006 at 10:07 pm

    Good Luck!

  • 40 JP // Oct 3, 2006 at 10:10 pm

    Thanks Tom. Keep in touch, I don’t have your new e-mail, but I guess I can always go via your blog. Incidentally I registered NotWavingButDrowning some years ago, let me know if you want it, no charge. BTW when you get the time to have a coffee with me, I want to talk over some of Highsmith’s Agile PM methodologies, pick your brains a bit. Rgds

  • 41 Alex Woodhouse // Oct 4, 2006 at 9:51 am

    Amazing…. Good luck!

  • 42 Oliver Altmann // Oct 4, 2006 at 12:55 pm

    Congratulations and all the best. I guess you will enjoy your new job.

    Oliver

  • 43 JP // Oct 4, 2006 at 10:32 pm

    Alex, Oliver, great to hear from you. And thanks for the wishes. Regards JP

  • 44 Jim Nelson // Oct 5, 2006 at 2:32 am

    Congrats, and my best wishes for continued success! Was great working with you, your support made all the difference!

    Jim

  • 45 EB // Oct 5, 2006 at 1:57 pm

    Good Riddance! And kindly take all your cronies with you!

  • 46 Listics - Frank Paynter’s Voice and Vision… » Gestalt… // Oct 6, 2006 at 1:55 am

    [...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

  • 47 Ian Micallef // Oct 6, 2006 at 4:24 am

    Best of luck JP! I’ll look forward to hearing what you get up to at BT.

    Maybe I’m too suspicious, but what a fantastic ploy it would be to set up the “JP Roboswami” site yourself. Great way to generate controversy and stimulate debate! :)

    Ah, I have a new ecommerce idea…
    Do your deeds go unchallenged? Do you lack someone to struggle against at every turn? http://www.ineedanemesis.com

  • 48 JP // Oct 6, 2006 at 8:05 am

    Thanks Ian, and thanks Jim N as well. Let me know when you are next in town, and we can catch up over a coffee or something like that. Rgds

  • 49 Harish Tailor // Oct 10, 2006 at 11:09 am

    Congratulations JP, good luck for the future!

  • 50 azeem // Oct 11, 2006 at 2:09 pm

    Well done JP!

  • 51 kam // Oct 12, 2006 at 9:53 pm

    wow well done - luck - you will need it!!!!

  • 52 andi // Oct 19, 2006 at 11:12 am

    As you know already: I’m thrilled! I look forward to benefiting from your leadership and vision. He trully has a sense of humour, making it seem such a small world. CONGRATULATIONS!

  • 53 Jonesy // Oct 19, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    Good luck JP, I am sure you are are goinmg to do well on this larger stage

  • 54 JP // Oct 19, 2006 at 9:13 pm

    Harish, Azeem, Kam, Andi, Haniff, thanks for the wishes. rgds

  • 55 Chris // Nov 5, 2006 at 6:22 pm

    JP,

    I have been reading your blog for quite some time. I would like to congratulate you on your new role. BT is a company that needs a thoughtful individual such as yourself in order to cope in a world that is requiring more adaptiveness than ever before.

    Congratulations once again, and I hope you will find the time to continue with the blog, and also to meet sometime, as I am often in London.

    Kindest regards,

    Chris

  • 56 Kerry Buckley - Random musings on life, work and software development. » I guess we’re now a cool international telco // Jan 17, 2007 at 9:23 am

    [...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

  • 57 tim howard // Sep 27, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    Congratulations JP on your new(ish) role! I hope you got to see lots of cricket over the summer and I hope to catch up with you before too long.

  • 58 LightArchitect // Oct 14, 2007 at 4:55 pm

    JP is doing great it seems at BT.
    What do you all think of their own source SDK for free access to web services including SMS?

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