Here I am, sitting at the airport and waiting to board my flight to Tel Aviv.  It’s going to be a great two weeks hanging out on the beach with my family and mingling with Tel Aviv natives (Obama, eat your heart out!):

But…with my inquisitive personality and love for technology, am I just going to sit unplugged for the fourteen days while lounging by the Med or hiking through minefields (http://twitter.yfrog.com/0ehu8z?sa=0)?  Hell, no!  I’ll be pounding the pavement of the hot streets of Tel Aviv and visiting a few IT companies to learn the latest of the ITSM world in the land of milk and honey.  So, my iPhone’s GSM chip is unlocked, my Israeli sim card is ready, I have all my tech gear, and there’s falafel and hummus waiting for me when I land.  To give a preview of my trip’s events, here are the companies who will be graciously hosting me during my IT sabbatical in the holy land:

Ayehu (http://www.ayehu.com)

I first met with Ayehu two years ago during a different visit to Israel.  During that trip I had a chance to demo their product called eyeShare and needless to say, I fell in love with its capabilities.  I later helped build a proof of concept at one of my employers and I admit that I’ve missed working on the product since moving into the dark world of IT consulting.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the tool has advanced and the direction it’ll be taking.

BMC (http://www.bmc.com)

OK, so BMC isn’t native to Israel.  But with the help of a good friend in the ITSM community (I owe you Chris), I’ll have a chance to talk with the Israeli branch to see what they’re doing in the market.  Since Israel has a large pool of technical talent, many companies have built R&D centers in Israel and I’m hoping to get a chance to see if any cool things will be coming out for BMC.

ServiceNow (http://www.servicenow.com)

So, here’s another non-Israeli company.  But come on, anyone who’s read my blog knows I’m a huge ServiceNow fan.  I couldn’t visit Israel without getting in touch with someone from ServiceNow to hear what they’ve been up to.  Given the concentration of tech in Israel, this group has a good chance of making some waves in the community.

SysAid (http://www.sysaid.com)

Anyone with a sense of humor that celebrates sys admin’s day will know SysAid (Revenge of the SysAdmin).  Their videos are hilarious, it looks like a fun place to work, and I heard that they’re becoming a “mobile first” type of tool (which I love).  I’m looking forward to getting a chance to really see their product (and I’m hoping to get Tony’s autograph).

During the next week I hope to have some good video, pictures and of course, blog posts of my journey.  Since this is a vacation, I’ll also be enjoying the sun, falafel, and trying to understand my 3 year old since I heard he’s now only speaking Hebrew.

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Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.