Percona has a new Chief Operating Officer! It is Tom Basil, who was Employee #11 at MySQL and led the Support organization there for almost eight years. He was the founding Director of Support at MySQL, and built it into a team of about 60 people all across the world. Tom was legendary as a manager at MySQL, and we’re really looking forward to his experience at Percona.
It sure is funny how things work out. When Peter and Vadim were at MySQL, Tom was their boss for 4 years. Now, Tom works for them! And Tom actively recruited me for a position at MySQL Support almost exactly a year ago, but I joined Percona instead. Perhaps we were meant to work together.
So, why did he resign from Sun/MySQL and come join us? In his own words, slightly paraphrased,
I could probably find some more words starting with V, but that seems to sum up what Tom has told me. His main regret is leaving behind friends at MySQL Support, which has been a close-knit team.
Tom works from his home, just like the rest of us. He lives in the Baltimore area with Kathleen, his wife of 22 years and their six children. And on a side note, he’s pretty near me, so I am looking forward to getting together with him and brainstorming on a more regular basis than I do with people in Novosibirsk or Japan!
Tom, from all of us in Percona, the warmest possible welcome! Here’s to a great future together. And here’s to our clients, who are certain to benefit from your wisdom as Percona keeps growing!
