Am I really writing this stuff ?

 Jason's intro post on the Microsoft BIEB initiative website

Today has been a very cool day that caused me to be introspective – so I wanted to share a little of myself with you.

Earlier today, I did my first post as one of the “System Center Expert” contributors to Microsoft’s blog on the “Because it’s Everybody’s Business” initiative.

The blog post is just an introduction on me – so many of you who read this blog probably won’t find anything new in that particular post.  But to me, it is just too surreal to see a campaign like this in media advertizing and pervading through our corporate culture … and then to be tasked to directly contribute to it in even a very minor way.

Maybe it is the nostalgia kicking in, but next week is my 4th anniversary with Microsoft … and so this blog reminded me of a very cool thing that happened when I had been at MS only about 2 months:

I woke up early on a Monday morning and realized that there was some key information that we were not relaying well to our customers.   So, after a few cups of coffee – I opened up Word and banged out a technical datasheet and supporting text.

I sent it off to a few SMEs for a sanity check, and by Wednesday – all the right people had said that there weren’t any issues with it.

So, I submitted it into an internal portal on Wednesday night – and on Friday morning, I awoke to find what I had written on www.microsoft.com

Having been an MCSE since Windows NT 3.5, I was used to going to microsoft.com as an authoritative resource on Windows and the Microsoft application families.  So, to realize that I just put something up on that website that must get millions of hits per day, was at the same time surreal, exciting, humbling, and scary. 

For those that have ever read something of mine on a microsoft.com site, or anything around DPM or file services in WS08 & WS08R2 … please know that I do not take the responsibility lightly to deliver accurate and substantive material. 

But the excitement of knowing how many people might read something I wrote is admittedly exhilarating.  It is why I am so grateful for those that return to this blog or the others that I contribute to.  And it was why I was honored and excited to contribute to the BIEB blog within the System Center team.  Outside of Microsoft, I am about half-way through a book on best practices in data protection and availability … and while I do not imagine that it will be a national best seller, I am again excited and humbled by the opportunity to reach out.

There are lots of days that I wake up and am amazed that God has graced me with an occupation such as mine – and I am grateful not only for the daily opportunities but also to each and every reader who happens to find my stuff relevant.

(I finish many blog posts with this salutation, and it’s never been more true)

Thanks for reading

 

JBUFF 2009 low-res Jason Buffington
Senior Technical Product Manager – System Center

Email Jason Buffington at Microsoft Jason on Facebook Follow Jason on Twitter Jason Buffington on Linked-In Jason's blog is "All Backed Up"MOBI TAG for JBUFF (expand and aim your phone at this one)Jason plays as DarkJediHunter on Xbox Live Jason blogs about family friendly games at ChristianGamerDad.com
System Center Data Protection Manager
System Center Essentials

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