I was actually questioning myself on what made me take up this?
First & foremost, I am a technologist at heart and brands come next. While I was working at Microsoft, I have never shied away from admiring a competitive technology or an offering. I have always taken a neutral stand and spent considerable amount of time getting my hands on non-Microsoft technologies. I burnt midnight oil playing with Ubuntu, Fedora, JBoss, Apache Tomcat, Apache Axis, Apache Gerenimo and Glassfish. As a Microsoft Evangelist, that’s what prompted me to raise my hand when it came to engaging with Java developers or Linux enthusiasts. I have presented at many Linux User Group events and spent time with hardcore OSS fans. I always had an open and transparent discussion on technology choices with those developers that I met. Finally, I am a firm believer that the technology can have a much larger impact on the businesses and individuals than what we currently experience. The best is yet to come! I always see myself as an evangelist spreading the gospel of technology.
Second, I am super passionate about Cloud Computing. When Google announced Java support for App Engine, I signed up as an early adopter and ended up hosting my first app within 45 min! I liked some of the architectural patterns that Google adopted for its App Engine. I am equally excited about Microsoft Azure and delivered a couple of sessions at Tech.Ed that were well received by the audience. This is my new found interest and I am excited about sharing and demonstrating my understanding of these platforms.
Third, I am a big believer of communities, user groups and special interest groups. Way back in 1994, I formed a small community of Microsoft Visual Basic developers and we used to regularly meet at Irani tea joints near Osmania University in Hyderabad. Little did we know that one day Microsoft would brand this as a User Group and will have a dedicated team to foster these communities! I immensely benefited from these informal user group meetings and always find ways to contribute. Right after relocating to Bangalore, I found a great opportunity to start a community for Google enthusiasts here. This would enable me to put my experience to use and also find an avenue for sharing my learning and findings on Google platform.
Finally, I am not distancing myself from Microsoft. It is one of the fantastic companies on this planet and has some of the smartest and best people working for them. I have great regard for the leadership team and my ex-colleagues at MS India. My mother tongue remains to be C# and I can’t wait to upgrade my home PC to Windows 7 RTM. I am going to sign up for a series of talks on Azure for the Bangalore .NET User Group (B.NET). I look forward to engaging with my old team and actively contribute to the Microsoft developer community outreach efforts.
As a Cloud Computing Strategist, Janakiram MSV helps businesses understand and adopt the Cloud Computing paradigm. His core strength is designing and architecting solutions for the Cloud. Janakiram focuses on industry's leading Cloud Computing offerings including Microsoft Windows Azure.
