Michael Niehaus' Windows and Office deployment ramblings
A long time ago, I worked in corporate IT. One day I started looking for new challenges and interviewed with Microsoft for a job in Microsoft Consulting Services, helping customers with their Windows deployment processes. I distinctly remember talking about all the “challenges” (putting it nicely) with the current tool, the Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 1.0 solution accelerator, that was being used.
Through an interesting twist of fate, I was soon working with the BDD team on version 2.0. That was in 2004. It turned into a full-time job in 2005 when I moved to Redmond. Many more releases followed: BDD 2.5, BDD 2007, Microsoft Deployment (see http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2008/01/22/a-concise-history-of-bdd.aspx), Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012. And that doesn’t even count the “update” releases that happened in between (or the latest one, MDT 2012 Update 1, due soon). All total, we’ve managed to have slightly more than one release per year.
It’s been a great journey. But this journey is coming to an end and another is beginning. After eight years, today is my last day working on the MDT team. Starting tomorrow, I am joining the Windows organization as a product marketing manager for enterprise Windows deployment. It’s not huge stretch from what I’ve been doing: helping customers get Windows deployed in their enterprises. But instead of working on individual tools, I’ll expand my horizons to include the entire Windows deployment process.
Does that mean I’ll disappear into the innards of Microsoft, never to be seen again? Not a chance. I’ll still be blogging (hopefully even more), I’ll still be presenting at events (even on MDT), and I’ll still be involved in the MDT, Windows, MVP, and IT pro communities. And I expect to hear from you if you are having deployment challenges, roadblocks, or just questions about how to do things.
Thanks for your support over the years, and I look forward to keeping in touch while on my new journey.
can we still ask you about MDT logs? :-)
Good luck for this new challenge and THANKS for all the great tools and support you gave during those years.
Congratulations! And, thank you for your hard work and spectacular results over the years. I look forward to your future contributions with the new position. Best of luck!
Congratulations Mike! Thanks for all your help and support.
Life is full of journeys, enjoy this new one.
Thanks for your great MDT support, looking forward to the new MDT 2012 update.
Good luck with the postition. We will surely miss you!. I just want to say thanks for all the things I've learned from you since BDD 2.0.
Thank you very much Mr. Niehaus!!
Hope the new journey is as exciting, challenging and enjoyable as the previous one. Best wishes.
Congratulations! I don't know what I would have done without BD2007 and beyond and all your sessions at TechEd. I'd probably be bald from pulling my hair out. Good luck in the new position.
I am very happy for you Michael. I must say your work on MDT has been astounding. We use it on a regular basis and love it. We are now working on the MDT/OSD integration with UDI. It too is great! Best of luck on your new adventure!
Congrats on the new opportunity Michael. Wish you the best of luck (as if you need it) in your new role. Thanks for all you've done for the community!
Good luck Mike! Thanks for everything!
Congratulations, Mike! Thanks for all your input though the years.
Congrats on the new role. Thanks for all the support over the years with MDT. I look forward to your contributions to enterprise deployment.
Congratulations Mike. Thanks for all your help and support throughout the years. MDT has come a long way since the BDD days and I can thank you for the many improvements.
Well deserved - congratulations!
HAVE FUN!