Why I’m Leaving Microsoft…and Starting SamlMan
As I’m sure some of you noticed last week, I switched over all of my blogs from the former Share-n-Dipity site on TechNet to the new Share-n-Dipity site here on WordPress.Com. While there’s obvious aesthetic advantages to doing that (long time readers I’m sure know exactly how much I hated the formatting on the old site), it was really part of a much bigger plan that I’m finally ready to share. Having put in 18+ years at Microsoft, I began thinking a little while back about what other challenges might be out there. The reality though is that the things I enjoy the most – working with you folks that read the blog, trying to lend a helping hand when I run across something “post worthy”, meeting you all at the various events when I’ve spoken the last several years – that’s really where I’d prefer to spend my time. With the various twists and turns that go on at a big company like Microsoft though, that can be a difficult thing to maintain in a way that’s mutually satisfactory to all. Add to that the grind of some really long days, weeks, years…you get the idea…and I decided it was time to change things up.
With that in mind, I gave notice at Microsoft and am starting SamlMan.Com. I decided on SamlMan because that was how I originally met so many of you, as we all struggled to wrap our head around SAML claims in SharePoint 2010, as well as all the downstream impact with things like claims providers, oauth trusts, apps, etc. SamlMan will give me an opportunity to continue to do those things, but at what I call a “semi-retired” pace – i.e. no more than 40 hours a week. It will also give me a little more flexibility to be able to find and work on the types of projects that are really interesting and challenging (in a good way). I’m hoping that as you folks who read the blog have these kinds of projects that you’ll give me a holler and with the right time and availability I’ll be able to work more closely with more of you than I’ve been able to for a long time.
You can reach me any time at steve@samlman.com. If you go to my new site at https://samlman.com you can see exactly the kinds of projects that I think are going to be the most interesting to work on. It covers the types of things that I get the most questions about from all of you, and the type of work that tends to be the most interesting and challenging (in a good way). If you have something else you’re interested in doing though just shoot me an email and we can talk about it. Over the course of my career working myself for large enterprises – US Bank (9+ years), Nike (3+ years), and Microsoft (18+ years), I’ve been fortunate enough to work through a lot of “interesting” situations. Working in Microsoft Services also expanded that by giving me a chance to work in one way or another with every branch of the military, close to every company in the Fortune 100, and lots of companies large and small. Here’s hoping that the trend continues.
At the end of the day though, remember what drives all this – sharing is caring. That’s how this whole thing started; a little reminder can be found here: https://blogs.technet.com/b/speschka/archive/2009/06/08/share-n-dipity-v-1-0.aspx. Hope to talk to many of you in the weeks and months ahead.
Steve