Celebrating Three Years at Microsoft: A Journey of Growth and Achievement

This August marks my third anniversary at Microsoft, and it's a moment of double pride and celebration as I have just been promoted to Principal Cloud Solution Architect (CSA) within the Azure Infrastructure team at Microsoft Spain's Customer Success Unit.

On this sunny Sunday in early September 2024, I took some time to reflect on this stage of my career and would like to share these lines to provide some details of this journey and express my gratitude. I also hope it serves as an inspiration for others in their careers.

How did I get to Microsoft?

Months before joining Microsoft, with 25 years of career experience, I took some time to reflect on what I wanted for myself. I had worked for numerous companies, including 10 years in my own entrepreneurial venture. I had gone through various roles, leading teams, and working as an individual contributor for very diverse clients. I wanted to reflect on what my motivations and purpose were for the next, say, 10 years.

I found four pillars that were very important to me. I considered that my path had to be supported by these four pillars. All of them were very important. If any were missing, I felt I would be dissatisfied and would have to keep searching until I found the project/company that covered them. These pillars are:

- Team: In my career, the most enriching personal and professional experiences have been those in international projects and organizations, where the diversity of people and experiences multiplies your learning. It is something I have greatly enjoyed since the first international project I participated in with Avanade Spain . It has become a must since then.

- Impact: The accumulation of projects carried out in various areas, software, systems, cloud, companies of all sectors and sizes, teams… have given me knowledge and skills that I consider should be applied to significant challenges, which have a great impact on businesses, the people I work with, and society. I feel the need to dedicate my time and knowledge to high-impact initiatives. Therefore, it is a factor I consider carefully when evaluating opportunities.

- Reward: It is fair that a great impact has a great reward. Of course, this includes economic reward. But also recognition, career opportunities, and other benefits that allow you to develop as a professional and as a person. It is very important that your efforts are adequately rewarded. Otherwise, dissatisfaction will come and undermine the rest of the factors without mercy.

- Empowerment: You feel more or less responsible for your goals depending on the empowerment you have to do your job. The ability to make decisions and carry out the actions you believe are necessary to achieve your goals. It is very important to have the organization's support, which translates into the confidence to do the work how, where, and when you want. Of course, there are always rules. But results should be measured based on objectives, not on the hours you work or whether you are at home or in the office.

Having identified the pillars I considered key, I selected companies I liked for their image, international impact, public projects, people in the sector working in them, and where I would feel proud to be a part of. My current employer Insight and, of course, Microsoft were on the list.

I started having proactive conversations with these companies. But I found that most did not meet my expectations in terms of reward and empowerment to a greater or lesser extent. If these do not meet your expectations, it is naive to think that the team and impact factors will balance the scale, as you can only adequately judge them from within the organization. I had to keep refining.

During those months, real opportunities materialized with 微软 and Amazon Web Services (AWS) . Both covered my four pillars abundantly. And when the offer from Microsoft came, I didn't hesitate for a moment. It was the company I had always wanted to be at. It was a dream come true.

What does working at Microsoft mean to me?

Microsoft is the place I've always dreamed of being a part of. My entire career has been dedicated to working with Microsoft technologies, and I have never seen a better place to be than at the world's #1 software company.

Before joining Microsoft, I worked in many technology consulting firms. In various roles, but with a common denominator: consulting. Working for clients of all sizes and sectors, helping them make the most of technology. Aligning their business needs with the potential of the latest Microsoft technologies.

At Insight, I already held the role of CSA. So, I have spent roughly the last five years in this role, which I have greatly enjoyed, helping clients think and design their cloud architectures. It is an individual contributor role where you can have a significant impact. I have always enjoyed design and architecture, which are very creative, and as a CSA, I enjoy them daily.

In these three years at Microsoft , I have worked as a CSA Lead for one of the largest banks in the world: Santander . It is also a source of pride for me to contribute my bit to a bank that I consider one of the best, and where I have had the opportunity to meet very talented people, both from the bank and Microsoft, with whom I have the pleasure of working day by day.

In my role, my goal is for my client to get the most out of the technology they invest in. Over these years, I have had the opportunity to work very closely with Microsoft's product teams. Providing direct customer feedback and helping to translate their needs into the roadmap. This has allowed me to learn directly from the source: the teams developing the capabilities and new services in Azure. My experience in the world of software development, not only as a programmer but also as a leader of development teams, has been very useful in this aspect.

How do I evaluate this stage of my career?

Three years later, I remember that summer of 2021 with great fondness. The excitement of joining the best company in the world. Being part of a team of highly professional individuals. With the mission to "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more." With all the flexibility and empowerment necessary to focus on your goals while developing your skills. And with rewards that far exceeded all my expectations.

Three years later, I am very grateful to the organization where I have managed to maintain my expectations and motivation as if it were the first day. Each fiscal year is a new challenge. And every day becomes a playground where we provide solutions to the challenges our clients present. And all this surrounded by the best human team.

Thank you very much, Microsoft. And thank you to all the people who made my incorporation into Microsoft possible, who have accompanied me along the way, or who have crossed paths with me in one way or another. All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, have made it possible for me to be where I am today.

Here's to many more years of team, impact, reward, and empowerment!