So, here we are in week 2.
I've been having a great time getting to know my fellow Career Factor cast members better. The blogs and videos are awesome. The conversations on Twitter and Facebook are going literally around the clock. With people in Australia, Tunisia, the U.K., Canada and the U.S., I think we can say that the sun never sets on Career Factor! I hope my friends in the U.K. don't mind me borrowing that moniker!
Anyway, if you aren't following us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, start today. We really have some great banter and tips floating about. Apparently, I somehow pulled the "Duuuuude ....let's get the band back together" during some Tweets with Steve and now some sort of Xbox Rock Band thing is might happen at TechEd NA? I think I saw that Caroline and Rebeb are joining in the fun as well ... I have no idea. It's just spiraling out of control, really.
How do I get myself into these things?? Well, if you followed me on Twitter, you'd see! :o)
As you may recall, I have done just about everything there is to do in the Lotus Notes-Domino world. My objective in Career Factor is to transition my existing skill set into the Microsoft equivalents.
I have a big problem with this though.
See, the short list of what I've done in the Notes-Domino world includes having been an admin, architect, project manager and everything else in between. I've even done a little bit of development. For the past 15 years, among many others, I've primarily worked with Notes, Domino, Sametime, QuickPlace/Quickr, DB2 Content Manager, WebSphere Portal and BlackBerry Enterprise Server with a SQL Server 2005 backend.
This list certainly isn't exhaustive but it gives you an idea of my well roundedness. As for versions, I've worked with every version that has been released since 1994. That's roughly from Notes version 3.x and every version in between and up to Notes-Domino 8.5.2.
I have been very fortunate that I have a nice body ... of work, that is. But, the problem is, we're talking about properly transitioning this body of work to Microsoft equivalents. How do you do that?
When I think about how to label it, what I actually do AND how I transition it, I can't simply say "well, I'm a Notes guy and I should just pick up Exchange and that'll do it."
It's a simple question but the answer isn't that easy. The reality is where do I start?
Well, I checked out the Microsoft Learning Career Portal.
Have you seen this?
This is a site that helps you navigate the appropriate learning paths for various Microsoft technologies depending on where you are. There are tracks for seasoned IT professionals, folks looking to enter the business and even tracks for students.
I then looked at Exchange related job postings. Immediately I was struck by the diverse requirements.
I suppose that, in comparison, it isn't that the volume of information required to know is that much different between the Domino and Exchange landscapes. I know how to get Domino servers setup and routing mail, however it is a bit different in Exchange. The concepts and goals are the same; get email securely from point a to point b. How you do it is different.
The other difference for me is that when I started with "the Notes server" 15 years ago, the learning curve was smaller in comparison to today.
The directory was different. There was no BES. We didn't have IM-ing, real-time communication, integration with phone systems and multiple different specialized webserver applications. I ultimately learned all of this stuff in drips and drabs over the years.
For me to truly transition my entire skill set, my guess is that I've got to master Active Directory, Lync, SharePoint, SQL Server, Windows PowerShell and Virtualization all in addition to Exchange! On top of all that, I'm thinking I probably also need to learn something about Visual Studio.
Again, I've worked with all of these systems in limited capacities. At this point, I can fumble around and get stuff to work. But, I'm not really sure what I need to know.
To this end, I'll ask you. What do today's Exchange architects and admins really need to know? If someone came to you and said, "I want to be an Exchange Architect. What are the software packages and technologies I need to learn to be great at it?"
To help us in these discussions, I've created a couple of threads in my forum: http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/careerfactor/f/324.aspx
In part two, I'll talk more about tools I have available through Career Factor. There are a lot available to me and I could use your help wading through them.
Please check them out and tell me something! Let me know what you think.
Until then ...
Tim
Fairchild Semiconductor International Fair Isaac Factset Research Systems F5 Networks
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