In this quick post, I talk about my presentation of “Saving SharePoint” at SharePoint Saturday Houston in a few days (Saturday, May 1st).
I’d normally have posted some information about this a bit earlier, but the last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind given the new job.
This Saturday, May 1st, I’ll be speaking at SharePoint Saturday Houston. I’m already here (in Houston) on business this week, and SharePoint Saturday Houston represents a great way to wrap up the week before heading back to Cincinnati!
I’ll be presenting “Saving SharePoint,” the talk that I’ve given (both solo and with my cohort in crime, John Ferringer) at a number of SharePoint Saturday events. In the talk, I discuss SharePoint disaster recovery, key terms and concepts for speaking the “DR lingo,” and the tools that SharePoint comes with to help you protect your data. A substantial portion of the talk also focuses on DR procedures and business practices that anyone tasked with DR responsibilities needs to understand to effectively carry out their duties.
If you check this blog with any degree of regularity, then you know that I’ve been relatively quiet for the last couple of months. I haven’t really posted anything new in some time, my tweets have been fewer in number (not that I’m a generator of high traffic on Twitter anyway), and I’ve generally been laying low. This is due in part to writing for the upcoming SharePoint 2010 Disaster Recovery Guide, but writing isn’t really the largest reason I’ve been “sparse” as of late.
For a few months now, I’ve been in a state of transition with regard to both my career and my employer. Now that all of the discussions are over, the details have been finalized, and I’m on my way to Houston for a week, I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined Idera as their Product Manager for SharePoint Products! The press release with some additional details can be found at this link.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the name, Idera is a software company that is based out of Houston, Texas. Idera makes tools for SharePoint, SQL Server, and PowerShell. In my new role with them, I’ll be part of the team that is working to craft the next generation of Idera’s backup and restore tools. This excites me on so many levels!
Given the degree to which many of my “extracurricular” activities (that is, writing and speaking) have focused on disaster recovery and the SharePoint platform, I think the new position is going to be a great fit. The match-up is wonderful in a number of ways:
Though I worked with SharePoint as a consultant with my previous company, I was always one step removed from the platform. With Idera, I’ll be working on products that specifically target SharePoint – a big win in my book.
About a year and a half ago, I made it a goal to get more involved in the SharePoint community. I wanted to participate more, give back some of what I had gotten, and host of other things. I see this position as a great way to continue those efforts in a way that helps both me and the company I work for.
When it comes to SharePoint, I’ve always had one foot in the development world and one foot in the infrastructure/IT pro world. Most of the development work I’ve done for SharePoint has focused on core plumbing, interop with other systems, performance improvement, and general tools. I’d be hard-pressed to find a better fit in this regard than Idera!
Though Idera is headquartered in Houston, I’ll still be staying in Cincinnati. I will be in Texas all week, though, to meet with my team, discuss strategies, and get myself “into the game,” so to speak.
If you see me around at a conference, SharePoint Saturday event, or anywhere else, please stop me and let me know what you think of Idera’s products. Make sure you share your thoughts on what you think should be done to make them better, too. From now on, I’ll be in a unique position to do something with the feedback!
