MattOffPrem - Notes about Azure

With the end of 2021, another revolution of the sun is complete, and I am another year older. As I enter the last year of my 30’s, I want to look toward the coming year to set out some professional and personal goals. To follow the example of half the Azure Twitter community, I have done a year review.

2021 Review

This past year has had several career highlights and high points:

Twitter Re-brand

After many years using a hard to remember and difficult to read Twitter handle, I decided it was time to do a slight re-brand and find a name that is readable, rememberable, and meant something. New Handle Post

Intercept

One of the main changes in 2021 was my move to working for Intercept as a Continuous Improvement Consultant. This move was part of an aim to maximise my Azure exposure and gain experience with production systems using Microsoft’s wide variety of services. With an Azure first focus, Intercept made an ideal company to move to, and I can say I have not been disappointed.

In the last seven months, I have been able to use my PaaS knowledge to help support customers with technical issues with their WebApps, whilst also getting my AKS knowledge back up to speed with the wide range of improvements that have arrived in the past three years. I have also had the chance to utilise my PowerShell scripting skills for customers and deploying improvements internally using Azure Functions.

I went into my job search with the mantra of Will Rowe “looking for my tribe”, and I am thrilled with my decision to join Intercept everyone is pulling in the same direction with the same goals in mind.

Skylines & Blogging

I have continued to blog and do some additional work for Skylines Academy, where I have continued my AZ900 series going through the various areas of the current exam blueprint. My personal blogging has been somewhat more hit and miss, starting at Intercept, while my exposure to more deep problems has increased. Due to family commitments, my free time has been constrained further, so I have not produced as many posts as I would have liked. Something I hope to rectify in the coming year.

Health

Over the last couple of years, with all the home working I have found my steps and exercise levels have dropped, not great when I already enjoy sitting down. I have certainly missed the access to Cambridge University’s Botanic Gardens, which were a stone’s throw away from my old job’s office when going to offices was still.

To try and get some activity in my life, I have taken on a small personal project of taking photos of my village every week to ensure I at least leave the house at some point. Twitter Instagram

This, combined with walking the dogs, has helped keep me somewhat active. The project has also helped my mental health by focusing on outside of work and general household chores.

2022 Goals

So going into 2022, with 2% of the year already gone, I would like to set some goals to hopefully keep me focused while not getting too distracted by other shining things or trying to take too much on.