Another tip: stop being religous about technology. You like Notes, and Netware. Yay. Don't let your religious conviction for a tool impede your career. Apply the skills you obviously have to a new environment.

Your demonstrated willingness to adapt to the environment will reinforce your value to the higher-ups. If the tone of your email indicates anything, I'm sure they've already gotten a whiff of your preference for "the old ways".

I have your skillset. My advice is to investigate Novel's Linux options and hosting Notes on SuSE Linux while you have the chance (the flexibility to do so). Then you may be able to steer change on your own terms.

Linux is coming. The demand for Linux skills far ourstrips supply. You'll like it.

I say find a new opportunity. I was in a situation much like this.

All the evidence and examples in the world will not convince the "New IT" that your solutions have any merit. You will be forced to change, and even if "bad" things happen in the new configuration it still won't matter. Telling them "I told you so" will just lose you points with the new management.

I agree with Bob's suggestion about finding a new place that is more like your job used to be. That's what I did and it was a wonderful change. You won't regret it.

Oh and as for the age thing. Anyone not willing to take a serious look at you with your experience because of your age wouldn't be worth working for anyway.

Good luck.

I'd agree, the handwriting is on the wall. Resistance is futile... (had to say that) But seriously Bob's advice is sound. You either take it, or change will roll over you.

Enjoy the run, but it's time to move in one fashion or another. You do have to evaluate quickly and brutally IF you have a chance where you are now. Be careful do not delude yourself and try to evaluate the current situation logically.

You may have a future, you may not. But don't ignore it.

"Neither" is in a wonderful spot actually. He has experience in getting ideas for better efficiency and making them work. Companies NEED people like that. People who are *not* workers in the IT-side of the business need to have someone nearby who understands the technical stuff and can make things work out for them when they have a problem. It's what I call being somewhere between a Functional and a Technical.
And his old boss still wants to have him reporting to him? That's wonderful.

Well... a lot of this could be attitude. So the new big bosses want to convert everything to a new environment. You know the current environment well. You're the logical person to work with the conversion process, learning what's equivalent in Exchange and Windows Server. It's hands-on training they're paying for. Why not take it?

If you can teach yourself Lotus Notes, you can learn this. It may not be your preferred environment, but you can learn it.

Then, if you don't like the new environment, you can work on finding another job where you can use both sets of skills.

On the other hand, if you are set in your ways that you can't learn more, you can't change, and you won't like the new systems, then leave. You will only be making yourself and everyone around you miserable complaining about how good the "old" systems were. They may be great. They may be the best choice. But that decision isn't yours any more in this larger environment.

Which brings up a separate point: is the real problem that you're no longer going to be top (or sole) dog in the pack? If what you really are resenting is the loss of control, then definitely you should move back to a smaller environment. But six-figure jobs of that sort are indeed hard to find.

What is happening here is a cultural change. An anthropologist I knew once said that larger cultures dominate smaller ones, and the smaller ones inevitably resent that fact.

This is a business culture here, but the principle is the same.

Yes, Netware/NDS/Notes have many notable technical advantages. However, don't count the Microsoft world out. They aren't that bad.

The real issue, as I see it, is the notion that you are being told to relax, that nothing is REALLY changing. That's simply not true.

The fact is that business likes to change on it's own timeline, on it's own terms. They don't want you to leave because that's change on your terms, not theirs. What really happens is that, piece by piece, your world is altered. If you're unlucky, you won't like the result. But it will change, and in a few years your world may well be unrecognizable.

By the time you notice it's far too late to do anything concrete about it.

My advice? Take it on your terms. If you can't stand the uncertainty, or don't like the direction, then leave. Or change your attitude and view the new world order as a chance to learn and grow.

Just a guess... but what is not directly said in your comments is that in large measure "this is your baby". You built the systems / tools / reporting capabilities and other parts of the infrastructure... and did so very well. You cannot do all that to such a high level (only one unplanned outage) without a very high level of pride of authorship and ownership of what you accomplished. That pride is what drove you to do it... and is also why you look back so fondly... and also makes seeing it go away so painful.

The skills and drive you have will serve you well... but the last 10 years is a combination of a lot of event coming together that will most likely not be replicated. Not to say new opportunites won't be satisfying... but this will always be remembered fondly as "the place I built".

Enjoy the memories... always. But time for the ship to leave the harbor (in a new function either here or elsewhere) - for better or worse. If you can be positive about it, you have a better chance of chosing your course. If you are bitter about it... more likely someone else will make that choice for you.

Bon Voyage

I have been in your position almost exactly. From 1990 to 1998 I too was the sole IT guy and worked with Paradox, DBaseIV, and Netware. Built the operational systems that ran the company. In 1998 we began to change over to Visual Basic front ends with MS SQL databases. By 2001, we had migrated and totally changed the look and feel of the company.

Began to move to VB.Net and Web Based solutions, MS Exchange Server and a wave of newer technologies so that by 2006 we were different again. Each of these changes provided a quantum leap for the company as well as my technical knowledge.

Today, as I approach 60, I feel very blessed to be constantly challenged to stretch myself, learn more and grow into the developer I am today. As I look back to the way we used to do things, some of it is very lame compared to the gee-whiz stuff we are doing today. The company, our collective productivity and myself are so much better off because of the changes.

Please look at this as a challenge to learn and grow. The old (If Then Else) logic still works the same just a bit slicker. Your value as a tweener is quite high just so you know.

Don't put your eggs in the CEO's basket..
It's great to have a mentor, but also understand that he could easily be gone in a month!!!
There are many good points to be made here, the #1 point is to stop looking at technology as a religion, I've been in the same situation and have translated to providing business solutions using whatever technologies make sense for the global view!! (NOTE: It even makes sense to hire outside consultants to provide these solutions if you don't possess the requires skill set!!)

#2 point is that you MUST develop as a professional and force yourself outside your comfort level to privide value to the orginization.. The day of the tech "god" in a glass room is done and bad interpersonal attributes are not accepted as "quirky and endearing" anymore.. Because everyone in the company is new to the corporation, chances are that you won't be the only one looking slightly awkward giving presentations and "advertising" your solutions to the business..

Here is an alternative approach.

Rather than resisting change embrace it. Be an instigator of change.
You are currently in the comfortable position of being a big fish in a small pond. You are a expert in the current environment and this shores up any shortcomings you may feel you have communicating. In the new environment you will no longer have this advantage.

Level the playing field by looking at how the new processes could be improved. If your company adopts a new technology everyone will be at the same level of experience but you will have the advantage of instigating the change and the additional experience gained while researching the new technology.

I would point you towards Windows Share Point Services. It integrates well with a Microsoft strategy and offers several advantages for a distributed corporate environment. It has several layers of abstraction that should ease the technical transition for you and offers numerous business benefits that you can sell.

Once you have been identified as proactive in engaging with the new business models your new organisation will become as accommodating to you as your original one.

Embrace change and you will be rewarded. Resist it and you will be sidelined.

If you are really making a six figure salary with the skills & experience you described then you are being paid at an above average rate. As you didn't mention your education level and any professional certifications you may hold it's hard to get a real fix on how marketable you may be outside of all your OJT skills.

The personality issues you mentioned are something that you need to deal with especially if you wish to find something at your current salary level. Not many people like to attend stupid meetings and/or play the office politics game but it's still a sad fact of life in most places. Learn how to play at least a bit and keep those jerks from getting all the glory, power, and money! ;-)