Farewell and Congratulations to Cathy Moya

I’ve been in denial about this for long enough: Cathy Moya, our much-loved and highly respected lead writer for “SMSv4” has left the building. She came back for the book signing party, but there’s a good reason why we haven’t seen her around for the last few weeks. And it’s not because she’s on a long vacation, as I’ve been trying to tell myself.

Fortunately for Microsoft, Cathy isn’t leaving the company but is taking up the challenge of a different position, working with the consumer division for Microsoft hardware. One of the advantages about working for Microsoft is the many opportunities to move within the company and learn new skills and expand your horizons. It’s a great opportunity for Cathy and we wish her all the best, and know that she will also excel in her new role.

Many of you know Cathy, either personally – for example, from visits to Redmond – or through her community engagements on the forums and newsgroups – or simply through her tireless work in reducing complex security issues into digestible documentation nuggets, organizing release notes and the documentation library structure, and ensuring against all odds that things happened on time when they were supposed to. Or a few other hundred things that Cathy did.

Some of you might also know that Cathy was responsible for uprooting me from the UK in 2004 when I was an Active Directory consultant and blissfully ignorant of all things SMS-related. Then one day I was thrown into an emergency situation where I had to quickly try and make sense of SMS 2003 with only the documentation as my life line. Trying desperately to make sense of my new world I wrote into the SMS Doc Feedback alias, Cathy replied, and to cut a very long story short, I was strongly encouraged to apply for an opening position with the team. And the rest, as they say, is history …But she didn’t stop there – she also recruited Jeff Gilbert, my mad, bad, office mate.

Coming from a training background herself, Cathy has been with our team for five years, and has been such an integral part of SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager (and even Operations Manager when it was still MOM 2000 and MOM 2003) that it’s been hard for us to imagine working without her. Hence the denial. But she’s been gone over a month now and with the documentation update for Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 RC just out of the door, life continues – we’re still in excellent shape to deliver on our goal to provide you with the right content at the right time!

I’m sure that you will join us in wishing Cathy all the best with her new position, as well as thanking her for all her contributions to SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager 2007.

And despite my poignant emotions about Cathy leaving the team, I’m taking my cue from Jeff:

If there's one thing I learned from the Army, it is this: Never say good-bye, just say see you later. I'll see you later Cathy.

- Carol

 

Manager's Postscript~

 

I've known Cathy for many years, both as a professional colleague and as a friend. I've been privileged to work beside her supporting Systems Management Server and Configuration Manager. Her passion for doing right by our customers is outstanding, and she will bring that passion with her in her new role with Microsoft Hardware. On behalf of Carol and the entire writing team I want to publically thank her for her significant contributions to the team, to Microsoft, and especially to our customers (summed up quite well by Carol). And we look forward to seeing her influence in the MS Hardware organization.

 

-Steve

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  For those that haven’t known about this, the docs team makes it official and public today…

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I was very saddened to read on the " Configuration Manager Writers - Announcements, Comments and

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I was very saddened to read on the " Configuration Manager Writers - Announcements, Comments and