dirtyDogStink

Starting a new chapter @ Microsoft

Thursday, March 08 2007

Today is my last day working in Windows Live Operations, excuse me...Global Foundation Services [fancy new name announced a few months ago]. Speaking of why do we always have to add words/syllables when we rename things here at Microsoft? Does bigger mean better? If it takes me 1.75 seconds longer to say it, does it make a bigger impact? Anyway, I won't be saying "I work in Ops, um, Global Foundation Services" any longer. ;-)

It's been a long run for me in the world of Ops. I started in October of 1999 as a system administrator monitoring the servers in our data centers. I dabbled with DBA work for a little while. Then system engineering for several years supporting the MSN Live Security team. Finally, I spent the last two years as a software developer for the Live Security team working on several internal applications. Some designed from scratch and some dealing with inherited legacy code [fun stuff there].

It's been a good run for me. I know a few people in Operations that have been here longer than me, but not many. Operations is a stressful place to work because you're responsible for running the internet services that all of Microsoft and our partners rely on 24x7x365. There are no days off. You might not be in the office, but you still have your cell phone and your laptop with you 'just in case' something goes to shit. People who haven't worked in Ops typically just don't get it [what we have to do to keep things online], but those who have can make a huge impact in other areas of the business.

That's where I'm headed...another area. I have accepted an offer to be a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDE/T) with the Excel Services team in Office.

Just in case you're asking yourself, "what is an SDE/T?" [often shortened to SDET, without the slash]:

• It's a bit short, but here's a good summary from the College Careers site (link).
• Zoe [who used to be a recruiter for Microsoft] gives a very detailed description from the recruiter's perspective (link).
• Sara Ford [who used to be an SDET with Visual Studio and has written more than 100 tips for using VS!] has an interesting reply to Zoe's post where she describes 3 Days in the Life of an SDET.

This is a great career move for me. Being a developer in Operations is not easy. Being a relatively new, self-taught developer in Operations [like me] is damn near impossible [in my opinion]. :-\ I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ops is all about getting shit fixed when it's broken [check out Dare's thoughts on getting rid of operations]. That mentality makes it really difficult for our development teams to maintain and follow a standard Software Development Lifecycle (SDL). Even following AGILE processes with short cycles [4-8 weeks] is extremely challenging without getting derailed by the latest fire-fight. I believe that moving to an established organization like Office will give me the structure and continuity I need to really flourish and take my skills to the next level.

Not only that, but I'm excited to be joining the Excel Services team. They just shipped version 1 with Office 2007 and are vetting/designing the v2 features as we speak. The product has tons of potential and it's a really exciting time to be working on it!

There you have it...my new chapter @ Microsoft. :-)

update: I removed some of my personal opinions from this post. I do not want to confuse anyone who might take them as prophecy. ;-)

~tod