Time for a Change (not April Fools)
Hello to all my friends in the Microsoft Dynamics GP Community.
You have probably heard that Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, recently announced that Microsoft will be shedding 18,000 employees, a total of about 14% of its total work force.
Well, on the 19th of September 2014, I was asked to come into the office for a teleconference meeting with my Sydney based manager. As this was the first time in thirteen and half years I have been specifically asked to go into the office for a meeting (I usually work from my home office), I knew something was up.
My team had been shrinking over the last few years. So, it was not a surprise to be told that support for Asia Pacific for the Microsoft Dynamics GP product was now going to be handled out of the Fargo office and that my role as Escalation Engineer in Asia Pacific was no longer required.
A few year's ago I wrote an April Fool's Day post which was designed to make people believe I was leaving Microsoft. Well, this time it is true and today is my last day. The Microsoft era of my career, which started on 16th May 2001, finishes today on the 17th October 2014.
Instead of writing it all again, I am including the career history from previous article:
As many of you know I have been involved with the Great Plains world since 1994 and Dynamics v2.0. The company I was with at the time, Sequel Technology, actually looked at version 1.0, but decided not to get involved with the initial release. I learnt Dexterity v2.04 in Melbourne, Australia when Kevin Kidder made his first international trip and conducted the first Dexterity Fundamentals class outside of Fargo (quite a long way outside).
I spent a total of five years as a Director of Sequel Technology, a time which includes highlights as presenting Cross Dictionary Dexterity Development techniques at the 1998 Great Plains World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), and winning the 1997 Great Plains Technical Innovation Award for Named Printers (which was later sold to Great Plains and is now part of core code).
In 1999, I made a very hard decision to leave Sequel Technology and created my own business, Winthrop Dexterity Consultants. I decided to focus on development of products and custom development and to no longer be directly involved with sales and implementation. My concerns were unfounded as the business was a great success, with achievements such as developing most of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) implementation for Australia while on contract to Great Plains Australia, and developing the Omni Tools and Omni Price products, which were later sold (Omni Security and Omni Field Security to Microsoft and the rest of the modules a few years later to Rockton Software).
In 2001, in conjunction with the sale of what became Advanced Security and Field Level Security, I joined Microsoft. Initially, I continued to maintain the Advanced Security, Field Level Security and Business Activity Statement (Australian GST) code, but these were later handed over to dedicated development teams. My role in Microsoft has shifted from a development focus, to a consulting focus and now to a support focus. All the time, I have continued to leverage my development background to provide better results for the teams I have worked with. This can be seen with the "pet projects" I have been involved in such as the Developing for Dynamics GP blog, Menus for Visual Studio Tools and the Support Debugging Tool.
Now before anyone gets upset, I want to point out that I knew that this day would come someday. It just happened a little sooner than I expected, but I was ready for a change. Development is my first love and I was already thinking about new possibilities. Staying within Microsoft and living in Perth, it was not possible to find a new role related to Microsoft Dynamics GP, so I decided to create my own role outside of Microsoft.
I am pleased to announce that I will be restarting the consulting business I had before joining Microsoft. Winthrop Dexterity Consultants will be reborn as Winthrop Development Consultants.
Winthrop Development Consultants (www.winthropdc.com) will offer independent Microsoft Dynamics GP development skills (consulting, development and training) to the ISVs, partners and customers of the Dynamics GP community. It will also allow me to work on other development projects which have been waiting patiently in the sidelines.
I have really enjoyed my time at Microsoft but now it is time to move on. However, I am not leaving the Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) community and hope to see many of you at reIMAGINE 2014 in Fargo in November. Please make sure you find me to say "Hi" and to discuss how I can assist you.
As this will be my last post on the Developing for Dynamics GP Blog, I will continue blogging at https://winthropdc.com/blog.
David
PS: My email address will be the same as before: david at winthropdc dot com.