Azure Data & AI Consultant
Wow, five years. I can still remember the early days like they were yesterday. Jan 2026 marked my fifth year at Microsoft.
It feels like time has just flown by. One minute I was honored to receive the Microsoft MVP award in 2020 for my work with Big Data Clusters and the next, I was signing my Microsoft offer letter and stepping into a new chapter of my life.
Continue reading “5 Years at Microsoft – Unboxing My Service Crystal (Video)”
Wow, has it really been 2 years since I joined Microsoft? Time flies by so fast! It has been an incredible experience working at this company, and I am grateful for every opportunity I have had.
Continue reading “2 Years at Microsoft: A Journey of Learning and Adventure”
I am thrilled to announce that I have finally earned my Bachelor’s Science in Information Technology from the University of Arizona Global Campus at the age of 44 with Magna Cum Laude honors. This long journey would not have been possible without the help of my supportive employer, Microsoft, and the love and motivation from my wife.
On July 1, 2020, I was awarded the Microsoft MVP in the Data Platform category. That was a truly elevating moment for me and this blog post is intended to share my journey over the past year.
One of my 2020 goals was to start presenting more. The easiest, and most cost efficient, way to do that is by presenting remotely. Another goal I had was to start creating Big Data Cluster videos for my YouTube channel. These two goals required a different set of tools. I also had no idea how complicated video recording could get. I finally got everything setup the way I want and a few friends asked me about my setup. This blog post will list everything I use and lessons learned.
It was an absolute honor to host this month’s TSQL Tuesday. I decided on doing the “Dear 20 year old self” as a way for us to reflect on life. It seemed like this topic hit home with a lot of people. I enjoyed reading each one of the posts.
If you don’t find your post in this Round Up, please email me your link and I will update this post!
Continue reading “T-SQL Tuesday #115 – Dear 20 Year Old Self – Round Up”
Yesterday was my 41st birthday. Twenty years ago, I remember my best friend asking me, “Where do you see yourself when you’re 40?” My reply was something like, “I can’t see myself as a 40 year old.” For some weird reason my mind went blank at 40. It wasn’t like I thought I’d be dead by 40, but I remember thinking of 30 or 35, but not 40. Maybe because 40 was twice my age and just too “far into the future” to think about?! But in a “blink of an eye” here I am twenty-one years later. Funny enough, now I can see myself as an 80 year old. Weird.
Continue reading “T-SQL Tuesday #115 – Dear 20 Year Old Self”
This past week was the MVP Summit out in Redmond, WA. Now, I’m not an MVP but I do follow a ton of them on social media and had the privilege to interview a handful of them.
There are tons of videos and talks out there that address consulting. How to brand yourself, how to start a business, how to fill out a 1099, why to get into consulting, how to get clients, etc. But I couldn’t find anything addressing one of the most difficult aspects of consulting.
I remember first hearing about the IDERA ACE program a little over a year ago (in 2017). Previous to that, I had no idea that companies existed that helped out the SQL Server community. As soon as I read-up about the ACE program I emailed asking how I could apply. Of course, I had missed the 2018 submission deadline by a few weeks. So I had to wait an entire year to apply…
Continue reading “IDERA ACE Class of 2019”
Paul Randal, of SQLSkills, recently announced a chance to win a free seat in their 5-day IEPTO1 or IEPTO2 classes in October (2017). You can sign up for their SQL Insider’s newsletter here.
I was extremely fortunate to attend IEPTO1 back in Spring 2015 and blogged about it here.
This blog post is hopefully to win a free seat in IEPTO2. Continue reading “IEPTO2: Performance Tuning and Optimization – Part 2 (Competition)”
There are two questions that you just don’t ask people. It can create animosity and can even cause relationships to break. One of those questions is, “how much do you make?” Continue reading “What Should My Salary Be?”
Sometimes the best stuff is FREE!
I recently came across this Microsoft site when I was searching for whitepapers. It’s part of the Microsoft Virtual Academy. They not only have free ebooks, but they also have free virtual courses. Continue reading “FREE Microsoft eBooks!”
One of my “New Year resolutions” is to increase my knowledge. As an IT professional, it is crucial to stay abreast with the constant changes in technology. The new replaces the old and by the time you get around to learning the new, that becomes old. As someone who works closely with SQL Server, I find it extraordinarily cumbersome to stay abreast of the new trends and technologies. Just SQL Serve 2016 alone has so many cool new features. Imagine the constant updates with Microsoft Azure. All that can be demotivating. Continue reading “How To Study Smarter Not Harder”
Here are the top 5 blog posts of 2016:
1. How to Find Last Login Date of a SQL Server Login? – This was by far the most clicked on blog. It looks like a lot of people need to secure their SQL Server environments :)
2. How to Request a DoD Server Certificate – Working in the DC area, I have a lot of experience working with DISA STIGS, securing and hardening SQL Server. Continue reading “Your 5 Favorite Blog Posts of 2016”