Re-introduction

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Greetings all,

I saw the recent announcement regarding the site ownership and found my way back here after many years away, so I wanted to re-introduce myself and give you and update on who I am and what I do
I can't promise I'll be here as often as I once was, but encouraging technical talent and training folks is one of my core competencies even today, and I'd love to help out where I can

I joined CF back in 2004 and spent many years as a moderator here, driving some of the forum changes that still seem to persist today, I put together Linux and Virtualization master-class style programs for a few small groups and really enjoyed helping people progress into areas of enterprise IT that they otherwise felt were out of reach (at the time, I mean virtualization is for every Mac owner these days amirite??)

I started off my certification journey at the ripe age of 14 back in 1996 (and back in the UK) when I got my NT4 Server in the Enterprise MCP and due to my role have stayed pretty current over the last 20 years. I was an MCSE NT, 2003, MCITP 2008 and back to an MCSE Server Infrastructure in 2012 and 2016, along the way I was a CCNP/CCDP for a number of years, had Exchange and SQL specialty certifications and still hold a valid VCP6 (started at 3)

I've been an infrastructure guy for as long as I can remember and these were the certs that always counted, but as I grew into consulting and leadership I have filled the void with some other certs and many many soft skills (they might not all have certs, but never overlook them! communication is a critical talent in our line of work, especially as you progress)

Today I am an Azure practice director and lead a team of architects and engineers focusing on cloud infrastructure, platform services and DevOps, and I still learn something new every damn day. While the 18 month cadence that most of us are used to in the inf/cert world doesn't really apply in this space, the platforms are constantly evolving and improving, and my group has to stay on top of things as they drop, its certainly not for the faint-hearted, and we have seen some folks drop off along the way who couldn't quite move quick enough compared to the static nature of IT infrastructure previously, it is however still incredibly rewarding and being able to solve complex customer problems, and introduce them to new infrastructure concepts still drives me to get up with a smile each day, pivoting mid-project due to a new-feature being available can however, be daunting at times, but it makes life interesting right?

I frequently run workshops on Infrastructure as Code, Azure Fundamentals, Git, VSTS CI/CD and PowerShell so if anyone is focusing on Cloud (Cloud, AWS), Microsoft Automation (PowerShell, Azure Automation, CI/CD), Enterprise Architecture or DevOps (-the Ops bit!, Inf from Code, CI/CD, VSTS etc) would love to try and help out where needed. I hope I can be around frequently enough to help out at least! But I often find myself stuck in hotels most nights learning new things anyway

Good to see so many old faces around here, look forward to catching up

Ryan/Pheo