BillCan's Place : Working at Microsoft

Hello, Xbox Live...

BillCan — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Well, I've been in the Xbox Live team for the past 3 days and my head is swimming! I had never thought about all the work that goes into keeping Xbox Live up and operational, but now that I'm here and get to see it, it's pretty remarkable. There is a large team working around the clock to make sure that gamers around the world can get on their Xboxes and have a troublefree experience whenever they want to.

Anyway, I'll have more to post down the road, but right now I'm still focusing on getting my feet underneath me so I can start contributing.

Goodbye, SA-SC!

BillCan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:06:00 GMT

Starting this Tuesday, I will begin a new job at Microsoft: I am joining the Xbox Live Operations team as a Program Manager. I have really enjoyed my nearly 3.5 years on the Solution Accelerators Team, but am looking forward to a new challenge. My job on the Xbox Live team will be to help ensure that the Xbox Live network stays up and operational while we continue to add new features and capabilities.

Anyway, it's been fun and I will probably continue to post, but obviously on different topics!

Chalk talk completed...

BillCan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:51:00 GMT

The first thing I had to do at Tech Ed this year was a chalk talk on the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs that I just finished. The session was pretty heavily attended, with all chairs filled and lots of folks sitting on the sides and standing in the back. Basically, I talked about the DET for about an hour, and fielded lots of good questions from the attendees.

It was cool to do a chalk talk instead of a breakout because it is much smaller and much less formal. In fact, you are not supposed to use slides at all for a chalk talk (I threw in a few... Come on, I'm a PM for cryin' out loud!).

For the rest of today and Tuesday I am an attendee, with no official responsibilities, so I will be attending sessions and taking in the show like everyone else. After that I'm really busy working at the booth (Security and Compliance), running my side meeting and doing other stuff, but until then I can just enjoy myself...

Wow! Microsoft Surface looks pretty cool!

BillCan — Thu, 31 May 2007 05:05:00 GMT

There's been a lot of buzz around Microsoft regarding the Microsoft Surface announcement today. I had seen this a while back at TechFest, the internal event put on by Microsoft Research every year. At the time I thought it was really cool. But I've got to say, checking out the videos at http://www.microsoft.com/surface, the production version looks like it's going to be way cooler than the prototype! Check it out!

The Joy of Hand Off

BillCan — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:55:00 GMT

There's nothing like handing off to the Release Manager and being "done" with your project. After many months and lots of twists and turns, I've handed the final pieces of the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs off to Karina (our RM) who is taking what we created and getting "out there". We haven't shipped just yet, and there's still time for something to pop up (as happened yesterday), but (knock on wood) we will be releasing to web soon.

Today I had my first nearly stress-free day in a months. Note that not every day is a "high blood pressure" stress fest, but as a PM, you are always the butt on the line for the project, and so you always carry that responsibility. Now that I've handed everything off to Release, I was able to relax a bit and take care of some things I'd been putting off (reviewing a patent submission, looking into some online training, registering for sessions on PM Day, etc.) It was really nice!

Soon I will be starting Envisioning on my next project, but until then I'm enjoying a bit of a breather. This is the life!

Tech Ed Accomodations

BillCan — Sun, 20 May 2007 07:18:00 GMT

I leave for Tech Ed in 15 days. I'll be staying at the either the Swan or Dolphin Hotel. I'm not quite sure how it works as they are two different hotel buildings but you somehow find out which you're staying in when you get there. At least that's what I think happens, I never really know for sure.

As someone who used to travel all the time for business when I worked at Ernst & Young, it is amazing how little I tend to know about my travel plans when I head out for a trip. Sometimes I find myself heading to the airport with just a vague idea of exactly when the plane leaves! I generally get to the destination city with little idea how I'm going to get to the hotel, or even where it is in some cases. I never print anything out, assuming that I'll be able to find what I need on my laptop or by calling the travel agent. Now that I think of it, this is probably a rather risky way to travel!

Anyway, I know I'm leaving next Sunday for sunny Florida. It will be a welcome change from rainy Seattle (although to be fair the weather is getting nicer and nicer)!

Tech Ed Bound!

BillCan — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:41:00 GMT

I will be going to Tech Ed again this year. I'll be working at our "Security & Compliance" booth, and presenting a chalk talk on the first day of the show. I'm also conducting a side meeting to discuss problems related to secure collaboration that our customers are having.

I love going to Tech Ed because it gives me a chance to meet customers and understand their problems. I also get a chance to see what the other teams at Microsoft are doing all in one place.

Anyway, stop by and say hi at the "Security & Compliance" booth if you get a chance!

Have you heard about CodePlex?

BillCan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:40:00 GMT

If you are familiar with SourceForge, you might want to check out CodePlex. According to their website, CodePlex (www.codeplex.com) is "Microsoft's open source project hosting web site." It has a lot of the features that SourceForge provides (issue tracker, discussions, source code distribution, etc.), but has one really cool feature: it is based on Microsoft's Vistual Studio Team Foundation Server. This means that it can be tightly integrated into your Visual Studio development environment.

I'm no developer, but CodePlex seems like a really cool idea. In fact, a number of Microsoft project teams are actually participating in community development efforts using CodePlex. Check it out at www.CodePlex.com.

Patent Cubes

BillCan — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:37:00 GMT

One of the cool things about working at Microsoft (a lot of my posts begin this way, don't they?) is that they encourage you to file patents on cool ideas that you've had. I've had lots of (I think) great ideas throughout my life (haven't we all), but since I've been at Microsoft, I've filed two of them with the US Patent and Trademark Office. There's no telling if either will actually be issued a patent, but I did receive two cool black marble cubes engraved with my name, the name of the invention, and the date of the patent filing. These black patent cubes are I nice way to be recognized for your good work creating intellectual property for the company.

The good news is that I had another idea accepted to be filed as a patent recently. That will make 3 patent cubes in 3 years. Not too shabby!!!

TechReady Presentations

BillCan — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 05:12:00 GMT

I presented yesterday and again today at TechReady 4. TechReady is Microsoft's internal conference where our field personnel come in to learn about new products, get training, schmooze with each other and HQ personnel, etc. Think of it as Tech Ed for Microsoft people.

TechReady may be the toughest presentations you can do as a Microsoft employee. The field personnel are really knowledgable, and often have strong opinions about the products, etc. Therefore, pointed questions are common, and can really put the presenter on the hot seat. While it can be uncomfortable if you are up on stage, it really is understandable: these people have to sell your stuff to their customers.

It's cool that Microsoft does such a great conference for their people. Tonight they are capping off the conference with a really great party down on the waterfront. Unfortunately, I'm not able to go...

Another perk of working at Microsoft

BillCan — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 21:21:00 GMT

One of the coolest things (at least for a technogeek) of working at Microsoft is getting to check out new stuff before it's released. You get to see the process of new products being built, you get to see the iterations they go through, and sometimes even get to influence how the product works when it is released.

I was recently picked to be one of the beta testers for the new Zune device. First off, having one makes you a rock star around the office. Everyone at Microsoft wants to see it, touch it, have it (obviously!), and understand what makes it so cool. Second, I'm involved in making sure it's ready for the public when it ships later this year. It is really cool...

As far as the Zune itself goes, I can say that it is really cool. I can't say much more than that, but you should definitely stay tuned. In the meantime, check out www.zuneinsider.com.

Bill

My 1 Year Anniversary at Microsoft

BillCan — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:54:00 GMT

I celebrated my 1 year anniversary at Microsoft two days ago. I brought in my requisite 1 pound bag of M&Ms (peanut, of course). I also got my first stock vesting, but was shocked to see that they took 25% of that stock to cover taxes. Oh well, 75% of free money is still better than nothing!

My first project is getting ready to ship, so things are pretty good. On the whole, it's been a good year. I think I'll stick around for a while.

Bill's Xbox 360 Strategy

BillCan — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:46:00 GMT

Last year we got a really nice new hi-def TV. Unfortunately, we have an old non-progressive scan, non-up-converting DVD player. So, we need a new DVD player anyway, so how about getting an Xbox 360 to fill in as DVD player? In addition, the DVD player can also act as a media extender, and can:

Display images off the main family computer
Play music off the main family computer
Play DVDs (up-converting and progressive scan)
Play music and MP3 CDs
Allow chat, etc. on Xbox Live
(Oh, and it can play games too!)

I really think this is the way to go...

Old News: Microsoft Purchases Groove Networks

BillCan — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 01:36:00 GMT

This happened a few days ago. The announcement is on the homepage of Groove's website (http://www.groove.net/home/index.cfm).

One of the big pieces of this acquisition is that Ray Ozzie comes with it. Ray was the creator of Lotus Notes. I don't know too much about Groove Networks, but it looks like they have software that does some of the cool things that Notes does. How this shakes out in our product line remains to be seen.

It seems that Microsoft is on a buying binge, having recently purchased Giant Software, Sybari, and Groove since I've been here (5 months). Who knows where it will end???

A Wierd Microsoft Tradition

BillCan — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 23:03:00 GMT

Apparently, the tradition at Microsoft is, on the day of your anniversary of starting at MS, to bring in to work 1 pound of M&Ms for each year of service you have. A colleague of mine is celebrating his 12th anniversary at Microsoft today, and has set up a table outside his office with every kind of M&M I think they make--12 pounds worth!

If you happen to be in Building 18 today, stop by 1216 and grab a handful... While your at it, tell Mike congratulations for reaching this milestone!