January 2025 marks a couple of milestones. It will be my 3rd year at Slalom and is my 25th year in technology consulting. Wow time flies…and so I thought I would share some reflections on this journey I’ve been (and am still) on.
For those who have known me long, know that my path to IT was a circuitous one. I am a graduate of the Grady School of Journalism at UGA and while still in college my brother inspired me to get into computers as hobby by showing me his 286 running Xtree Gold. This started my love of the PC and all things “tech”. My professional career started in TV production (WNGC TV in Athens), then advertising sales, then to sales for a small IT shop, followed by becoming a PC technician in that same IT shop. I earned my first MCSE certification in 1996. In January 2000 I stared my first role as a consultant. In my 25-year career I’ve consulted for the smallest of “mom and pop” shops, some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies, a US government agency, and a major league sports team.
My consulting career began in the heart of the Microsoft ecosystem, where I spent about 19 years specializing in Active Directory, Identity Management, and Configuration Management. During this time, I honed my skills in:
- Active Directory: Building robust directory services to manage and secure user accounts, computers, and other resources. I was involved in designing and implementing AD structures for organizations of all sizes, ensuring seamless authentication and authorization processes. And many domain migration efforts with ADMT and later with Quest migration suite.
- Identity Management: Implementing solutions to centralize and automate user provisioning, deprovisioning, and access control. My work in this area helped organizations maintain compliance and enhance security. From GALSync to fully customized solutions.
- Configuration Management: Utilizing tools like Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to manage software deployments, updates, and configurations across enterprise environments. This role required a keen understanding of system integrations, lifecycle management, and software installation automation.
These foundational years were marked by constantly stretching my skills and growing my competency. I spent time working on WinFrame, the early version of what would become Citrix MetaFrame, and also network firewalls like Steal-Belted Radius and Checkpoint. I also did a fair amount of work in the virtualization space first with Microsoft Virtual Server, a bit with VMware, and then Hyper-V before moving to Azure cloud.
In the last six years, my focus shifted to Amazon Web Services (AWS), where I’ve delved into Infrastructure as Code (IaC), containers, and Kubernetes. This phase has been particularly exciting, as it embodies the cutting edge of modern IT practices:
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Utilizing tools like Terraform and AWS CloudFormation to define and manage infrastructure through code. IaC has revolutionized the way infrastructure is provisioned, enabling consistency, version control, and automation. Typing
terraform deployis always exciting. - Containers: Implementing containerization with Docker and managing containerized applications using Amazon EKS. Containers have brought efficiency and portability to application development and deployment.
- Kubernetes: Orchestrating containerized workloads with Kubernetes, focusing on scalability, resilience, and microservices architecture. My expertise in Kubernetes has been pivotal in helping organizations modernize their application infrastructure. The amount of open-source projects for the K8s space is huge and continues to grow.
Keeping it simple
The constant in my journey with these technology changes has been the fundamentals:
- DNS – The core of any well-designed AD forest; name resolution is also key in doing most of the tasks in the Microsoft space I worked in.
- ISO Model – Knowing what layer/layers the traffic is using is vital in troubleshooting connection issues, and helps with infrastructure designing
- Recognizing repeating design patterns:
- Distributed systems – DNS and AD share similar designs with primary servers and secondary servers. Yes AD is a “multi-master” design, but the AD “FSMO” roles have means to assign a primary owner of these roles
- Clusters – Most have a similar design of shared resources (network and storage usually) and a voting process to elect a primary node
- Curiosity – Above all, staying curious, asking questions, seeing the wonder in the designs and technologies I implement. Read the RFCs for TCP, IP, and DNS and you can see we are dealing with amazing designs. As a side note, did you know research has discovered ants communicate much like the TCP network traffic? I subscribe to many podcasts that feed my curiosity. Stuff You Should Know, Windows Weekly, MacBreak Weekly, Ted Radio Hour and others. And I have been an Audible subscriber for years allowing me to consume a wide range of books in topics that interest me.
Conclusion
As I reflect on my 25-year journey, I’m grateful for the diverse experiences and the opportunity to contribute to the technological advancements of numerous organizations. From the early days of Microsoft technologies (where removal drive trays were our means rapid redeployment) to the dynamic world of cloud computing with Azure and now AWS, each phase has enriched my understanding and passion for IT consulting. Along the way I have been blessed to make some great friends, some were coworkers and others were clients.
Looking ahead, I’m excited about the future of technology and the endless possibilities it holds. Whether it’s exploring new cloud innovations, diving deeper into DevOps practices, or embracing emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, the journey continues.
Thank you for being part of this incredible ride, and here’s to many more years of discovery and growth in the ever-evolving IT landscape. 🚀
Happy Building,
D