Way back in 1999 I was very fortunate to have landed a Data Center Analyst position at a growing company in the Twin Cities. Having started down the path of computers, networking, and programming in High School I was ecstatic about working in the Data Center; I was surrounded by all the toys I wanted, but could never afford, or need. It also really opened my eyes to what it meant to enable business with technology. The central role that the Data Center played gave me a birds eye view of Networks, Databases, Desktop Support, and LOB applications. More importantly it showed me how people interact (and try to interact) with technology.
While I was in the Data Center I was constantly playing with new technologies - especially anything to do with the Web. After almost a year, I moved to the Web Services team. It was there that I was first exposed to SharePoint Team Services. I pushed to have our four intranet servers be the first to migrate to Windows 2000 Server and to get STS installed right away. Before deploying, we worked hard to modify STS and customize it to (and frequently beyond) it's limits. When we were done we had a branded, unique Team Services implementation/Taxonomy that is still in use today. I learned tons about the inner workings of SharePoint, CAML, and STSAdminXML. Then, things changed.
In the pursuit of a more programming focus I started attending night school and switched jobs. Of course, my timing wasn’t the best and while I was searching for my new programming job, the internet bubble burst. I was luckier than most and was able to find jobs programming (after a brief stint stocking shelves at my local Gateway Country Store). I was able to gain valuable experience with .NET, Web Services, and XML technologies. Unfortunately, while I was hopping from job to job to internship, I missed out on the release of WSS and SharePoint Portal Server V2. At each hop I saw the usefulness of SharePoint but was usually unable to get anything implemented until I was on my way out the door. Still, I managed to setup one STS site for a testing team and get a WSS proof-of-concept up and running.
After a wonderful few months working for my local Justice Systems Integration project, I decided it was time for something a little more permanent. Everything lined up perfectly and I was very happy to get the opportunity to work for Inetium, a Microsoft Technologies Consulting company. A lot has happened since then... two office moves and 4 and 1/2 years later I'm still with Inetium working in the Information Worker Practice and playing with SharePoint and Office development every day!