Leaving Microsoft: Saying Goodbye...
A term often expressed at the end of a journey is "its been a great ride." I can't argue or complain with that expression as it is exactly how I feel after 7 years of fun at Microsoft. The loose ends to tie up after this amount of time is vast so please do accept my apology for making a blog post one of the last things I did.
My career has taken me down various paths and along the way I have made hundreds of friends. They will be missed.
My Microsoft Career in a Snapshot
It is pretty straight forward. At the center of my universe was IIS back when it was in version 4 while v5 was just about to hit the door. I lived through the bad times - Code Red & Nimda - and many good times as we watched one happy customer after another deploy IIS 6.0. I then spent time watching IIS 7.0 in it's infant stages to where it is basically complete and the next generation Web platform.
In either event, here were my roles:
- May 2000 - August 2001: Product Support Services IIS Engineer
- August 2001 - August 2002: Product Support Services Technical Lead - IIS
- August 2002 - July 2005: Product Support Services Beta Lead - IIS
- July 2005 - July 2007: Program Manager - IIS Product Unit
During IIS Product Unit tenure, here are some quick facts:
- Building Moves: 1
- Offices: 3
- Managers: 2
- Number of PMs (since Aug '02): 19
- Releases: 3
- Re-orgs: 6
To my credit...
The one thing that many folks do while reflecting on a "career" at a place is think about the things they did. Beyond that, they think about the things they also didn't do...As a quick glimpse, I thought I might share what are some of the things I am most proud of while working at Microsoft. A discussion of the things I could have done better (or worse) then check out my new blog location. I will also be talking a bit more about my experiences at MS that might answer the question you might ask...why would you leave?
- Created SSL Diagnostics 1.0 with the help of Ulad Malashanka (UladM)
- Developed Content for and Created the IIS Webcast Series
- Developed AuthDiag 1.0 with the help of UladM
- Created the IIS Diagnostics Toolkit suite (not all the tools, just the branded kit)
- Led the TechEd 2005 team for IIS & ASP.NET
- Delivered 4 TechEd talks
- Visited 10 Countries and presented in the first-ever IIS Roadshow
- Negotiated and owned the IIS.NET project
...Then I retired.
The final goodbye...
I left Microsoft officially on Monday, July 16th. A great deal of folks found it odd that I chose Monday rather than the traditional Friday but I felt like I had good reason. Friday, well... it was Friday the 13th. I didn't want to tempt fate and throw caution to the wind and leave on this well-publicized Americanized bad day. On Monday, I came to work for my final day to find that my buddies which I will miss dearly did me one final farewell. It was sad while all along very funny. I have been known over the years as they guy who carries a football to meetings, to the guy who talks funny (southern accent), and lastly to the guy who would usually have a well-stocked beer fridge in his office. My leaving posed a serious threat to some on the team who find the ability to grab a beer during the day to chase away the daily Microsoft blues very appealing...
They blocked it - and did so in great fashion.
For more, go here
Lets just say that I will you y'all too.