As we roll the year to 2018 and as I reflect on my career, I realized how much of an impact Microsoft has made to me, my family and loved ones, and my customers.
I have been working with Microsoft products for over 30 years. My entire Software professional career has been with Microsoft going past several inflection points in the journey. I have summarized my journey and association with Microsoft below:
1988 – 1991 – DOS Era
I first worked with a startup back in 1988 for 3 years that had a 5 in 1 package for MS DOS similar to Microsoft works in Windows. I was a hardcore DOS Programmer. The company went out of business as Windows took over the world.
1991 – 1998 – WINDOWS Era
I then became a Visual Basic programmer and built many large applications for small and large companies for many years.
1998 – 2001 – WEB Era
I joined Microsoft to lead their database consulting team as SQL Server 7.0 was hitting the market and as a consulting manager acquired the first few initial customers on SQL Server 7.0 for OLTP and Data Warehousing.
I built some of the initial click stream analytics software for Microsoft customers
I was part of the Digital Dashboard team (which formed the initial components of SharePoint).
I built excellent relationships with my Microsoft colleagues, and customers. Relationships that I cherish even today.
2001 – 2011 – WEB Era
I left Microsoft in 2001 with some of my Microsoft colleagues to form Netwoven, a consulting company focused on providing solutions using the Microsoft platform.
It proved to be a successful bet and Netwoven today is a thriving business. It allowed me to send my kids to college, save some for retirement, assemble a team of amazing Netwovians, deliver value to customers, and last but not the least to have fun.
2011 – Cloud Era
We moved our entire business to the cloud as Microsoft cloud began to gain mind share. This has again proven to be an excellent bet and we look forward to the journey.
I am sure many others have followed the same journey but here’s where the journey and impact may be different:
- Many of my family members bet with me on the journey with Microsoft
- Several of my kids, nephews, and nieces have all graduated from the Netwoven academy to move on to bigger and better things
- Some of my family members are now working at Microsoft doing great things
- Some of the other family members have started business similar to Netwoven focused on Microsoft technologies
I thank the leadership of Microsoft and the talented people for making building software and changing lives as their mission.
I thank my colleagues at Netwoven who decided to join me on this amazing journey.
I thank our customers for challenging us to reach greater heights and bestowing the trust in us.
I am not ready to retire yet and looking forward to many more years to continue to server our customers.
Wishing you a very happy holidays and a happy new year!
