For years, Americans went to bed at night comforted by Uncle Walter Cronkite’s signoff, “And that’s the way it was.” Cronkite had an air of authority, credibility, projected dependability that made him an icon. Woe to his competitors at other networks. Even Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, well regarded themselves, just couldn’t dislodge Cronkite from our living rooms. CBS moved on, of course, with Dan Rather, emerging as Cronkite’s long-term successor. Today, well, I’m not really sure who the CBS News anchor is, even though the nation’s appetite for news is insatiable. And with more and more channels, plus the Internet, and newsradio, I guess it’s not surprising that the nation hasn’t reached a consensus about what’s the most credible news source.

With today being my last day at Mission Critical, I guess I feel a bit like Uncle Walter. I had a large hand in building a publication that many in the data center industry find credible and now I’m moving on.  In just five years, the Mission Critical team built a terrific publication from scratch, with a large and growing readership, strong advertising support, terrific newsletter response, and an exciting webinar program.

“What will happen?” I wonder aloud. I’m emotionally invested. I want the publication to continue to succeed. In fact, I want it to scale new heights.

And then I remember, “There is no I in team.”

Much of the credit for making Mission Critical what it is belongs to Peter Moran, the publisher. He assembled the team that launched this magazine and approved every good idea we had, while rejecting a few losers along the way. The team he assembled is still largely in place, with Vic Burriss having replaced John Floyd as East Coast Advertising Manager a while back. Both men did terrific work. “Dr.” Russ Barone remains a terrifying idea machine as the Midwest and West Coast Advertising Manager. And Caroline Fritz has been superb as managing editor.  I’m assuming she’ll be playing an even larger role in upcoming issues, and the magazine will be better for it.

Of course, industry participation remains the key to Mission Critical’s success. We have gotten regular contributions from columnists from all industry sectors, good ideas from an even broader range of board members, and articles and webinar participation from all over the world. And that’s the secret sauce. If that doesn’t change, the magazine will be fine. It will be up to the new team to maintain high standards and do a good job recruiting new contributors.

As for me, I’ll be taking up shop at 451 Research, where I will be joining a superb team of analysts (made larger by their purchase of the Yankee Group, announced yesterday). I’ve got a couple of exciting projects already planned, and I hope to stay in regular contact with everyone at events and through social media like Twitter and LinkedIn.

“And that’s the way it was.”