Three Months at Microsoft

Time Flies when you’re having fun or when you’re crazy busy-  I’m unsure which is more true.

I just completed my first review as an employee at Microsoft and good news!  They’re going to keep me. 🙂

I still get a number of questions surrounding my job at Microsoft.  Since I worked for Oracle for 2 1/2 years, much of it speaking between customer engagements, many didn’t realize that I started out, and have always been, multi-platform.  My first database was a monstrous SQL Server, version 7 and small Oracle and Sybase databases.  I have always loved technology.  I found the more I knew about one platform, the more able I was to enhance another.  It didn’t limit me in the depth of knowledge I was able to attain, as it was more about translation than differences.

I am incredibly impressed with Microsoft as a company-  they have an incredibly unified vision and amazing leadership from Satya Nadella, down to the VPs and managers in each speciality area.  Even though I’m in the Data Platform and AI group, there is a singular, unified vision of Office 365, Research and AI, Surface and throughout the company.  For someone who worked for Oracle, which was more like 10K little companies under one name, it was hard to fathom how this unified vision was possible in such a large company.  I’m beginning to understand that it has to do with having a vision that everyone can believe in and then continuing to build it into the foundation of the company, then living it.  There is also a huge focus on Diversity and Inclusion, but it’s not just talk, it’s action.  Microsoft understands that it’s good business to have a company that reflects the technology they build and the world they serve.

I’m taking on a new technology for me.  I’d never worked in Analytics or AI before, yet there were a TON of reference material, videos and other resources for me to learn from.  I have access to Azure credits to build out the solutions I need to work with to make customers successful and have my own environments to test out everything I want to work with.

I have a really great team I work with, too.  I was brought in to work with customers immediately, which I don’t mind.  I learn quick and was able to build out use cases with the technology that resonated with me and help understand Microsoft’s vision for bringing technology to the world.

As expected, Microsoft doesn’t just believe in the technology they build, they use it inside the company, too.  I spend most of my day, not just in Power BI, but in Azure, meeting with customers via Skype, collaborating in Microsoft Teams and who can survive without email and calendars, so Outlook is everywhere.

Beyond all of this-  I also work remote….and I do mean remote.  I’ve moved into my 5th wheel just as I began my employment.  I get to travel the US and my customers/coworkers commonly ask what part of the country I’m in on a given day.

Will I stop working in Oracle?  No chance.  I love technology and Oracle is great tech, but truth is and always has been that Microsoft tech is awesome, too.  I became a database technologist because I love databases, not because I just love ONE platform.  Almost all my customers have a multi-platform environment and most companies are either there or will be there.  DBAs are becoming more diversified.  Having a great company to work for is just a goal we all want to achieve and Microsoft is my icing on the cake.