Me? A SQL Server MVP? That’s What They Tell Me!

I am delighted to announce that Microsoft has granted me (me?!?) the MVP Award.  The official description of this award:  “Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals are exceptional technical community leaders worldwide who actively share their high quality real world expertise with others.”  The Microsoft MVP public site is at:  http://mvp.microsoft.com. 

As the week has progressed since the announcement, finding the words to express my feelings about it is becoming harder rather than easier – there are so many people in the community doing great things! Not sure how I made the cut, but I’m looking forward to learning from all the other MVPs and Microsoft folks I’ll be exposed to, and continuing to contribute BI content to the community.

Many times I’ve said the Microsoft user community is very different from others. The extent to which information is freely shared is astounding. We should all greatly appreciate the ability to fire up our search engine and find advice which saves us time and teaches us something. So many people invest time and effort to make that happen.  There are blogs, user groups, books, SQL Saturdays, webinars, Twitter, forums – with many great friendships made along the way.

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about how much our work lives depend on being fearless. What I mean by that – technology changes all the time, business methods vary, best practices evolve, we change, and the people around us change and grow. Many times we find ourselves doing something unfamiliar. The more experience I gain, the less I fear the unknown and the more confidence I have that we as a team can “figure it out.” The sheer volume of information that’s available to us in the Microsoft community to improve our skills makes “figuring it out” faster, easier, and with less risk for poor decisions.

Now I don’t want to pull a Sally Field moment here, but there’s a few people I want to call out. A heartfelt thanks goes to Rafael Salas who submitted an MVP nomination on my behalf.  Wayne Snyder was instrumental in giving me the confidence to start blogging.  My good friends Javier Guillén and Jason Thomas – these guys are always willing to review a draft, exchange ideas, or just go for a beer – they make me smarter by association.  My employer, Intellinet, has been extremely good to me - the level of support and encouragement I’ve received from Leo Furlong and everyone at Intellinet has been amazing.  Finally, my husband Bob is my rock.  That says it all.

Today I received a really nice plaque and certificate.  See the little 2013 disc on the left side of the MVP plaque?  If an MVP award is renewed the following year, the recipient receives another disc to slide onto the plaque.  Cool, huh?

Here’s to a great rest of 2013!

Reflecting on 2012

Here we go, another self-indulgent post just for me to measure how the year really went versus how I thought the year would go.

Evaluating 2012 Goals

A couple of great opportunities came up during 2012 that shifted my focus tremendously, including organizing a SQL Saturday in Charlotte, and forming a new user group called the Charlotte BI Group.  Along with a big client implementation and moving to a new house mid-year, my time to devote to my personal goals was seriously impacted.  The things that slipped, like certifications and an article, were very “me” focused; since they got swapped for SQL Community focused events, I think the change in course was more than ok!  Recapping my 2012 goals set a year ago:

• Speak at 4-6 events <— Done!  Did 9 presentations at User Groups, SQL Rally, and the PASS Summit.  Yeah, that Summit!
• Develop materials for 2 new presentation topics <— Done!  I developed one new presentation related to the Community, as well as materials related to Intellinet sales activity.
• Post 36 high quality blog posts <— Close; got 33 published.
• Publish 1 article <— Nope.  Didn’t hit this one.
• Upgrade MCITP and MCTS certifications for SQL Server 2012 <— Nope.  Passed a couple of the beta exams, but I haven’t taken the upgrade exams yet.
• Continue meeting people & learning how to be a helpful contributor to the SQL community <— Done!  I love meeting SQL Community people.

• Keep a better balance between work, fun, and health <— Hmmm, could always do better here.

Goals for 2013

There’s no huge changes for 2013 considering I’m quite happy with the progression of my career at the moment.  Here’s what I’m planning for 2013:

• Speak at 4-6 events, while improving on making presentations & demos more interactive and engaging for the audience
• Post 36 high quality blog posts; at this point in time Self-Service BI and Agile BI are of great interest to me
• Publish 1 article on a timely and relevant BI topic
• MCSA certification in SQL Server 2012
• MCSE certification in Business Intelligence
• Build a virtual machine from the ground up which includes all the entire Microsoft BI toolset as well as SharePoint
• Grow the Charlotte BI Group into a mature group with regular attendees who provide positive feedback
• Learn to kayak
• Learn to use a sewing machine
• Teach my dog to be off-leash without risk

Don’t forget … Keep Getting Better Every Day! Here’s to a great 2013!

Reflecting on 2011

This is a self-indulgent post just for me.  This past year was pretty terrific, both professionally & personally.  2011 was my first full year of being involved blogging & presenting in the SQL Server community – there’s no stopping now!

Let’s see what I was thinking when I set 2011 goals in my Reflecting on 2010 entry:

Evaluating 2011 Goals

• Speak at 2 events <— Nailed this one.  Spoke 7 times & loved every minute of it.
• Post 50 high quality blog posts <— Got 40 posts in.  Life definitely got in the way here, but that’s ok.  On the weekends I didn’t blog, I thought about it & chose fun or a mental break instead.
• Publish 2 articles <— Not quite; published 1 whitepaper.
• Improve technical skills <— Well, of course another year of experience does that.  (Guilty of setting a non-measurable goal here, wasn’t I?)
• Get involved with Twitter in a way that suits my style <— I love Twitter now, although I don’t usually check it during the business day.  I lean towards using it more to obtain & share links with good information.
• Continue meeting people & learning how to be a helpful contributor to the SQL community  <— I met some cool people this year who inspire me; I can do more to be involved in the SQL Community.

Goals for 2012

My plan for 2012 is just to Keep On Keepin’ On (in the wise words of Joe Dirt).

• Speak at 4-6 events
• Develop materials for 2 new presentation topics
• Post 36 high quality blog posts
• Publish 1 article
• Upgrade MCITP and MCTS certifications for SQL Server 2012
• Continue meeting people & learning how to be a helpful contributor to the SQL community
• Keep a better balance between work, fun, and health

The theme is:  Keep Getting Better Every Day.   Here’s to a great 2012!

Technology Consulting as an Employment Option

With this post comes a big change for me.  I have left Mariner, a Microsoft BI consulting firm located in Charlotte, NC.  Mariner is a terrific firm with smart & fun employees I'll miss very much.  I have joined Intellinet, a Microsoft-centric business consulting technology firm based in Atlanta, GA, with a growing branch in Charlotte, NC.  Intellinet has groups which handle business intelligence (my group!), application development, portals & collaboration, infrastructure, as well as project management & business analysis.  

A Typical IT Consultant

We're generally folks who get bored easily. We crave challenge & variety of work, so instead of job hopping all the time, the world of consulting offers a lot of change.  At least I find this to be true for me.

What we don't think (well, most of us anyway) is that we're any better than the developers & administrators in the companies that we work for. Why do we get hired? Usually because a company doesn't have the expertise, time, or manpower in house - meaning we're just here to help. Hopefully we can bring ideas & experience to the project, with less risk & no long-term commitment to the customer.

Positives Within a Consulting Environment

• Opportunity to learn a lot of skills (both technical & interpersonal)
• Varying experiences with different projects, technologies, and clients
• Exposure to repeatable processes and methodologies
• Being around other talent (coworkers & clients) who are smart
• Encouragement to obtain certifications
• Support for speaking at events like user groups & conferences
• Keeping up with new technologies
• A continual focus on learning
• Many occasions to meet people & develop relationships
• Various career path options (such as:  technical, project management, business analyst, sales & business development, managerial, etc.) 

Potential Negatives Within a Consulting Environment

• Time pressures, sometimes coupled with clients who have demanding expectations or deadlines
• Demands for very extremely high quality work performed very quickly (I find this to be a good thing – but it does represent pressure)
• Potential for a lot of travel (we need to be where the client is, right?)
• Requirements to learn a new skill extremely fast (once a deal closes, you might be asked to get things rolling very quickly) 
• Flexibility with assignments is required (for example, sometimes I need to fill in on project management or business analyst work in addition to BI development – sometimes you’ll be asked to perform tasks that aren’t your absolute favorite)

Things to Consider Before Starting a Consulting Job

Besides the obvious things like your job description, compensation & benefits, here’s a few other things to consider when evaluating an IT consulting job & firm:

• What are the firm's expectations for your billable hours (referred to as utilization) per week? Does that expectation affect your compensation? Are the hours expected reasonable to you?
• What is the firm’s typical billing model?  Does the firm typically charge per hour, or flat rate per project (both have different challenges).
• Are professional development programs offered (and encouraged)?  How much investment is made routinely in training?
• What is the chain of command above and below you (directly or indirectly)?
• Do you get a sense the culture of the firm would be a fit for you?  Does each person you’ve met seem smart, friendly, supportive, and happy to work there?  Does it seem like an environment that will be conducive to personal & professional growth?
• What specific technologies does the firm focus on?
• Does the firm serve specific industries?
• What equipment is provided (such as a laptop)?
• Will you typically be devoted 100% to a single client, or often multiple clients?
• In the eyes of the client, will you serve as staff augmentation (sometimes thought more of as a contractor by the client), or as a consultant?  Are your services being delivered through a project with deliverables?
• What other personnel is available to back you up and/or provide additional expertise?  Will you work closely with others more experienced than you, who you can learn from?
• Is bench time (when you're not assigned to a client engagement) paid?
• Is there a typical lifecycle or duration for the type of projects you will work on?
• What does a typical project team look like? Is it typically large or small? Will you personally have a lot of client interaction?  Do the teams often comprise both consulting team members & client team members?
• How is project management typically handled? (Personally I think a good PM is invaluable.)
• Are there established methodologies & repeatable processes in place?
• What is the regional market served by the firm?  What are the expectations for travel?
• Does the pipeline of future opportunities look promising?
• Are specific certifications, or credentials, required or preferred?
• Does the firm hire all levels of personnel starting at the junior level, or just experienced staff?
• Will you typically work at the client site, at the office, or from home? What is the policy for working remotely?
• What role will you be asked to play in the business development (sales) process?
• Does the firm support community involvement, such as user groups & conferences?  Are there current employees who exhibit involvement & leadership in the local technical community?
• Does the firm have a good reputation?

By no means is the above an exhaustive list; hopefully it gives you some things to think about. 

I really like consulting a lot because of the variety it offers.  As with anything, there’s ups and downs.  Sometimes the client really looks up to us, whereas sometimes we’re just “the vendor.”  There’s still politics & sticky situations on occasion, but I continually learn so much that the technology consulting industry is a really good fit for me.

Additional Information

Shannon Lowder (blog | twitter), a database engineer in Charlotte, has a terrific series of posts about Interview Questions.

Reflecting on 2010

All week I’ve been enjoying reading observations about this year from fellow SQL Server bloggers.  A recurring theme seems to be that we all can always keep getting better, which is something I think about quite often.  I’m very proud of my professional progress this year, particularly that I finally got the guts to become involved in the SQL Server community rather than just observe.  Turns out I enjoy blogging a lot - and I mean a whole lot - aka my husband thinks I’m nuts sometimes.

Highlights for 2010

• Moved from St. Louis, MO to Charlotte, NC (our long overdue escape from the midwest!)
• Started working with Mariner (a great company!)
• Actively involved in Mariner’s mentoring program (a huge thank you to Wayne Snyder for his time, encouragement, and advice)
• Launched SQLChick blog in August (happy to see a steady growth in traffic each month – just the month of December has had 486 unique visitors with 1,081 page views!)
• Published one article on MSBICentral
• Passed the MCITP exam for BI

Goals for 2011

• Speak at 2 events
• Post 50 high quality blog posts
• Publish 2 articles
• Improve technical skills
• Get involved with Twitter in a way that suits my style
• Continue meeting people & learning how to be a helpful contributor to the SQL community

Can’t wait to write my “Reflecting on 2011” entry!

Mariner is Hiring!

My employer, Mariner, is currently hiring individuals with strong SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS experience.  Mariner is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.  I escaped the midwest (St. Louis, MO) to join Mariner and have been thrilled with the decision.

We have about 30 people on staff (including two MVPs & numerous MCPs) who are talented, dedicated, and fun to be around.  If you have experience developing Microsoft BI solutions and like to work in a truly collaborative team environment, then please consider Mariner.

The best way to inquire is through the e-mail address on the Jobs page of the corporate website.