'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things:"

Yes, the time has indeed come.

After 22 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, I've decided to leave Microsoft.

Yes,  you've heard correct. It's time!

My time with Microsoft started way back on 1991, in Canberra, as a Systems Engineer. I was the first technical guy in a small team of 4 people. I got to Canberra after I had followed a girl (who I had met in Melbourne) all the way to Canberra., That girl became my wife, and over the journey we've spent time in Seattle, Sydney, Seattle again and ultimately Melbourne, which is where I started. Funny that.

The career summary looks a bit like this

May 1991	Sep 1993	Microsoft Canberra, working as a Systems Engineer
Sep 1993	Aug 1994	Microsoft  Corp, @ Executive Briefing Center
Aug 1994	Oct 1995	Microsoft Corp, in the Advanced Technology Group, working on Interactive TV
Nov 1995	May 1997	Microsoft Australia, MSN Technical Director
Jun 1997	Jun 1999	ninemsn CTO
Jun 1999	May 2001	MicrosofT Region, Digital Media dude
May 2001	Aug 2007	Microsoft Australia, Developer & Platform Evangelism (DPE)
Aug 2007	May 2011	Microsoft Corp, Director – DPE Field Community & Readiness
May 2011	Sep 2013	Microsoft, Principle Technical Evangelist, WW Technical Evangelist  Role Owner

 

Along the way we had 4 children who have grown up immersed in all things Microsoft - they all have their Nokia Lumias, and Windows 8 tablets, and love their XBOX, I don’t think this will change in a hurry.

And then, there's my other family - the awesome evangelists I hired, the communitymembers who helped spread the word of the Microsoft platform - from .net, hailstorm, silverlight, to windows phone, windows, windows azure, and everything else in between.

Thank you all for making my Microsoft time very enjoyable and not feel like just a job.

This week also sees TechEd on the Gold Coast - and while I am there, we recorded the 100th episode of FranklySpeaking with my good friends Andrew Coates and Michael Kordahi, where I speak with the guys about my time at Microsoft. I had fun recording the session

I now have a chance to look around, smell the roses and find that next great job that isnt really a job which I can commit my heart and soul into, just like the last one.

I wont be blogging here anymore - but you can find me at https://frankarr.com,