Ramesh Srinivasan
Jan 17, 2026 - May 8, 2026
9
Decisions
0
Active Todos
5
Patterns
Categories
Decisions (9)
Reject open-ended LGU+ RHEL/OEL support commitments — best effort only
Nathan surfaced (via Justin) a CIQ <> LGU+ contract proposal requiring CIQ to provide workarounds and answer customer SR tickets for RHEL 6 (already EOL), RHEL 7/8/9, and OEL 6/7. Peter intervened in the same-day group DM with Bjorn, Art, and Ramesh to draw the line at best effort only — no commitments to deliver workarounds or answers. Asked Nathan if it is not yet in force so he can get in front of it before signing.
Peter delivers Reno QBR C-suite intro Thursday — covering Bjorn late arrival
Peter will deliver the C-suite intro at Reno QBR Thursday morning, since Bjorn arrives Thursday afternoon. Peter arrives 8:45 AM Thursday. Greg travels to Houston with Adam for a 1 PM Thursday sales meeting.
Three-tier Rakuten kernel proposal — 8.10 preferred, 8.6 sustaining, $800k-$1M PS for full 8.6
Push Rakuten to migrate RLC 8.6 to 8.10. Three-tier proposal: (1) preferred — full support on 8.10 with CIQ vendor coordination to accelerate hardware recertification; (2) alternative — sustaining support on 8.6 with no new patches/backports (security risk on Rakuten); (3) PS engagement — $800k-$1M/year to fund two dedicated kernel engineers for full 8.6 support, framed explicitly as Professional Services cost not mainline engineering. June renewal is the forcing function. The original handshake-pricing deal with Tarek is void.
Everfox: require ~$2M front-loaded year-one payment, reject back-loaded $600k structure
Peter is requiring a large upfront payment ($2M floor with the proposal team; $4-6M float with Greg) for the new Everfox custom work (legacy CPU support, custom desktop) and rejecting the back-loaded $600k year-one structure. The $20M/10-year deal will be restructured to front-load payments, potentially by reducing total contract value if needed. CIQ will not absorb non-reusable engineering work without immediate funding.
Engineering veto required on custom deals and new lines of business
Peter is implementing a formal process where Engineering has review-and-veto authority on custom deals and new lines of business. Engineering must be consulted to assess cost and feasibility before any deal is finalized. Discussed in Peter <> Chris 5/1 and applied immediately to the Everfox proposal restructuring on 5/4.
Fuzzball PoC ownership belongs to Sales Engineering, supported by Engineering
When Bjorn asked who should own Fuzzball PoCs (Sales Engineering vs Wolfgang/Godlove vs Support), Peter answered definitively: Sales Engineering, supported by Engineering. Bjorn agreed with the framing — pushback was strictly about Sales Engineering not being enabled on Fuzzball today (resourcing gap), not the principle. The default routing stands.
Approved Professional Services strategy pivot
Approved Ryan proposed PS strategy pivot: align PS with Ramesh product-first vision, discontinue unprofitable standalone training deals and custom engineering work, focus only on product-aligned services (Rocky Linux migrations, dedicated support engineers/TAMs, HPC services) delivered through third-party vendors to scale without increasing headcount.
Everfox partnership requires ARR-target-level contract to proceed
Participated in technical scoping meeting with Everfox to understand feasibility of supporting their RHEL 8 to RHEL 10 migration for 100k+ hardened thin client units. Meeting was exploratory - no commitment made.
All-Hands messaging: acknowledge Q4 miss, pivot to pipeline optimism
Aligned with leadership on All-Hands messaging strategy: directly acknowledge Q4 revenue miss, then pivot to optimistic outlook highlighting $22M H1 pipeline and unified GTM plan. Peter to present tech updates (service endpoints, Nerf) and guide Mural board walkthrough. No naming specific deals to avoid premature expectations.
Related Patterns (5)
Executive Sponsorship for Strategic Partnerships
Strategic cross-company initiatives and major client partnerships require executive-level accountability to move at the right pace and ensure proper prioritization.
Small Circle for Sensitive Operations
When executing sensitive strategic operations, keep the circle of informed people as small as possible to prevent leaks that could accelerate hostile action or undermine the initiative.
Protect Engineering Capacity
When external demands threaten to overload engineering capacity, protect capacity by either requiring the demand to come with additional resources, or forcing hard prioritization choices upstream.
Lead by Example with New Tools
When championing new tools or processes, personally use them and share results rather than just advocating. Learning by doing and demonstrating value through example is more effective than mandates.
Protect Engineering Focus Through Process
When faced with requests that would disrupt engineering focus (from sales, governance, product, or other stakeholders), establish processes that protect engineering ability to innovate while still satisfying legitimate concerns. Prefer systematic solutions over ad-hoc responses.