When your position evaporates

Dear Bob ...As IT Manager in a small company, I did it all, from application development, to LAN architecture, to help desk, to managing the budget, to telephony, to managing a small staff, to replacing the burned out light bulbs. I taught myself programming in Lotus Notes, and have applied ideas and technology wherever it would help. We're in a beautiful location, I live under ten miles from work, and never see

Dear Bob ...

As IT Manager in a small company, I did it all, from application development, to LAN architecture, to help desk, to managing the budget, to telephony, to managing a small staff, to replacing the burned out light bulbs. I taught myself programming in Lotus Notes, and have applied ideas and technology wherever it would help. We're in a beautiful location, I live under ten miles from work, and never see a highway in my commute.

I've loved it! 

After ten years of working in pretty much a dream job, my boss sold the company. The first two years were pretty good. They left us alone, and we kept working on our merry way, admittedly, with less stress because the cash flow issues of a small business were now covered by the corporate entity.

Now we're in a wave corporate imperialism. Processes are now being substantially formalized. (All well and good, but they require everything in Word documents. I literally haven't written a procedure in Word in nine years. We're a Notes/Domino shop, and we have databases that hold our documentation.)

Our little NetWare and Notes shop (only one unplanned outage in ten years, and never a virus, thank you very much), must comply with the corporate architecture of Windows Server and MS-Exchange.

Next week, big boss super (the CEO) and the head of Human Resources will be here to go over the company's "Vision, Values and Purpose" - which just sounds like a perfect setup for a Dilbert cartoon about PowerPoint poisoning, drive by management and, to put it politely, "buzzword Bingo".

We aren't the only acquisition, of course, and I've been told that part of my staff will now report to another of the acquisitions - one that's nearby, and with a larger IT organization. My boss says I've nothing to worry about, that I'll still report to him, working on special assignments where ideas and technology are needed.

Which sounds to me like I've just been quietly shown out of the door of IT. So here's the problem: I'm too young to retire but too old to easily find a new position in IT.

I'm feeling a lot of anxiety. I left big corporate America precisely for the same reason - the constant feeling that I'm in way over my head. I'm an introverted kind of a guy - don't like meeting new people, don't like meetings where there are more than five people at the table. Bad at politics and "the game"? You bet.

I'd jump if I had a place to land. Searching the web for opportunities hasn't turned up anything for my odd collection of skills and experience. I've managed to cross the six figure salary line while at this company, and I'm the sole bread winner at home. Starting at an entry level in a new career isn't going to work out very well.

Staying or going both seem to lead to a bad place.

Any guidance would be much appreciated.

- Neither here nor there