Looking back at one year with the Rangers at Microsoft

Today, it has been one year since the day we arrived in Vancouver … the city under the liquid sun … and that I joined the Rangers team, formerly known as the VSTS Rangers team and busy aligning itself with the new Visual Studio branding.

What has happened in the past 12 months, in a nutshell?

We had a hectic, yet successful year, which was focused on shipping Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server 2010 guidance before the technology is released to market, to ensure those engaged in the consultancy and technical support environments are in a position to be pro-active and prepare for the next wave. We shipped six Rangers solutions so far, are continuously updating all six and in parallel working on three new guidance projects. For a complete list refer to VSTS Ranger Projects – summary of projects covered on this blog.

In addition a huge part of our effort was invested on improving the transparency around the Rangers initiatives, growing the partnership with Microsoft Most Valued Professionals, Community Leads and other partners, introducing process improvements as outlined in VSTS Rangers Process Improvements - We have listened to your feedback! Part 3 of 3 and the Rangers Recognition program as documented in Rangers – Questions & Answers 1, for example: Why am I not listed as part of a Ranger solution?. I know of at least two new MVPs who bubbled up on the MVP nomination radar thanks to their tremendous contributions to multiple Rangers solutions :)

In terms of silly … or should that be scary … statistics, the past year saw 94,591 emails pouring in and out of my mailbox, which amounts to a staggering 259 emails/day. These emails include distribution lists and blog subscription, but still highlights the huge waves of email that circulates within the ecosystem. In terms of email size the volume amounted to 7,263,973KB, which is an average of 19MB per day … I think it is time for a brain upgrade and speed reading eyes.

Pictures tell a thousand words…

… so I will conclude my annual report by including a number of pictures taken during the course of these two years.

… 365 days ago we landed in Vancouver.
… MVP Global Summit 2009
… TechReady9
… MCDC Cares Program
… enjoying the natural beauty of Canada
… Robert visits MCDC during his Rangers sabbatical

So, what is life like at Microsoft in one sentence?

“Like trying to take a drink from a fire hose, hissing around like an agitated Rinkhals snake“ :D

Being part of Developer Division, supported by the amazing Rangers and many colleagues such as “Chuck”, being guided by mentors such as Bill Essary and having the privilege of working for phenomenal managers such as Bijan and Jeff, mutates the fast-paced, challenging and ever evolving ecosystem into an extremely rewarding environment.

MVPs … see you at the MVP Global Summit 2010!