Microsoft Customer Service & Support - What is CSS?

Hot Jobs: August 17

jamessaj — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:32:13 GMT

Here are HOT JOBS for this week! Click the links for full job descriptions. Shoot us an email at cssjobs@microsoft.com and we'll make sure your resume gets to the right recruiter.

BI Program Manager – Issaquah, WA (754973)
Feature Product Manager – Issaquah, WA (762700)
Director Premier Lync COE – Redmond, WA (758097)
Service Delivery Specialist – Redmond, WA (758202)
Service Delivery Manager – Seattle, WA (741148)

DigiGirlz makes the news again!

jamessaj — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:58:33 GMT

DigiGirlz makes the news again! This time DigiGirlz alum,Heidi Triplett, was featured in Inforum.com, North Dakota’s #1 news website, as she participated in Microsoft’s three-day DigiGirlz camp experience in Fargo, ND.

As you may know, Heidi is now a Technical Lead with CSS. Great to know those involved with GigiGirlz continue to reap and return the benefits of the program! To read the full article on Heidi and her participation with DigiGirlz click the Inforum.com link above.

To learn more about DigiGirlz read here.

See you in the threads.

HOT JOB: August 9

jamessaj — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:11:33 GMT

Our CSS Hot Job this week is a Sr. Software Development Engineer opening! Location: Redmond, WA.

Click this link to apply. Be sure to send cssjobs@microsoft.com an email when you apply - reference the job number and we can get your name/resume straight to the recruiter's desk. Happy week all!

CSS:Talent Watch!

jamessaj — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:14:00 GMT

Not everyone has the opportunity to win an ACC Title or play pro-football straight out of college. Then too, not everyone has the opportunity to work with a multinational, internationally recognized, Forbes 50 company before the ink their new BA degree dries.

What to do when faced with BOTH choices? Take the long bet.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported this is exactly what Georgia Tech graduate, Albert Rocker, did when he accepted a Technical Account Manager (TAM) role with Microsoft, foregoing dreams of a shot at the NFL. It’s been said that Rocker will be the first Division I athlete to participate in Microsoft’s Academy for College Hires (MACH). This six-year-old program has groomed more than 15,000 new graduates for success at Microsoft!

As a TAM, Rocker will be part of the CSS community, interfacing with Microsoft clients and support teams to coordinate and deliver world-class products and services. Let’s wish him continued Success!

To read the full Atlanta Journal-Constitution article click here. For more information about the MACH program read this.

See you in the threads.

Digi Girlz Camp recently honored in August Charlotte Campus Newsletter!

jamessaj — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:44:02 GMT

Digi Girlz Camp was recently recognized in the August Charlotte Campus Newsletter for introducing girls into the world of technology. Since inception in 2000, the program has enjoyed tremendous success encouraging girls to learn about technology and been quite effective in dispelling many stereotypes of the high-tech industry, one being that it’s just for men.

Congratulations are extended to our 5 national leaders who received "Girl Power" awards for their impact driving STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Math) as follows:

Senator Kay Hagan, (D-NC)
Dr. June Atkinson, North Carolina State Superintendent, Department of Public Instruction
Janet Manzullo, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Time Warner Cable
Marilyn Richards, Area Development Director, United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
Marlena Werder, Vice President, Commercial Technical Support, Microsoft

Very special thanks to Stafford Mays, Global Diversity PR Manager; Keami Lewis, Global Diversity Outreach Manager; Catherine Collins, East Region, PR Manager; LeVay Penny, Staffing Consultant SMSG Services; Phallan Davis, The Caraway Group, and Katie Trautmann, Airfoil PR. Thanks are also extended to the strategic engagement of Matt Gelman, Sr. Director Congressional Government Affairs, David Pryor, Federal Government Affairs Director; and Terrance Herron, State & Local Government Affairs Director who secured Senator Hagan and Councilman Mitchell; in addition to the Digi Girlz Charlotte Planning Team!

Look for photos in the August Charlotte Campus Newsletter!

To learn more about the Digi Girlz Camp program, including past awards and recognition click here. Be sure to read the full article where Senator Kay Hagan touts tech jobs for women right here .

To view additional media coverage highlighting Microsoft’s Digi Girlz Camp program visit links below:

CSS: Bringing Magic to Life

cwatkins1 — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:29:58 GMT

Want to know what kind of impact you can have by working in CSS? Just spend 4 minutes today watching the video below and try to tell us that working in CSS isn't something you could be proud to do.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Profile: Natalia Efimtseva, from Microsoft Russia

cwatkins1 — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:55:00 GMT

We are very excited today to bring you this profile from Natalia, a PTC with Microsoft Russia (find out below what it means to be a PTC!) We learn about what it's like working at Microsoft Russia, what kinds of experiences Natalia has had in her career, what it's like working in Global Partner Services, her tips for getting involved in Microsoft's Community, as well as what keeps her sane when work gets hectic. She was also kind enough to share these photos from her team and campus!

What is your Microsoft anniversary date?

I’ve worked at Microsoft since 2007.

What office/campus do you work at?

Microsoft is a very recognizable brand in Russia IT industry: we regularly receives prizes in HR Brand nominations, people like our home products like Windows 7 and Office 2010, parents and kids love XBOX Kinect, and, by the way, XBOX Live was launched in Russian not long ago. Overall IT market in Russia is growing really fast so we have a lot of challenges and opportunities; especially in small and middle segments.

There are 34 Microsoft offices in Russian regions (the furthest one is located in Vladivostok, which is 6,000 km [3,728 miles] away from central hub) and I work in the biggest one – the Moscow office. Our office is located at a business park in a very beautiful spot near green trees and a river. Offices of Intel, Huawei and Cisco are next to our building.

Microsoft Russia is a large subsidiary - more than 1000 people. There are a lot of different departments here: EPG for large customers and opportunities, as well as Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group (SMS&P), Dynamics localization and development team, Microsoft Consulting Services, Developer and Platform Evangelists and all others. These groups span all Microsoft products, services, and technologies.

Local Customer Service and Support (CSS) team is also not small and it consists of 100 engineers and consultants who work in the office: PFE & CTS Premier, CTS SMSP MBS, GetHelp and our team - GPS (Global Partner Services) Russia. We are responsible for Gold and Silver partners support at selling and deployment stages. Through a global partner network and support infrastructure, we connect with customers to generate rapid, meaningful, and measurable business results.

What is your current role in Microsoft?

I am a Partner Technology Consultant (PTC) in Global Partner Services (GPS). GPS is part of Customer Service and Support which provides technical advisory and presale support for Gold and Silver partners. The PTC role focuses on the “design and deploy” parts of the solution lifecycle, including building partner skills via technical training workshops.

The GPS Russia team consists of 6 PTCs and a team lead located in Moscow who helps mostly Russian speaking partners from CEE: Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. We answer incoming reactive questions, deliver technical webinars for Partners readiness and provide a presale assistance to drive market share.

My main responsibility is to support ISV Partners in the processes of system\application development and integration. From a technology point of view I specialize in .Net, SOA and SharePoint. I worked with ISVs from different CEE countries: Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Rumania and Greece.

What kind of projects are you currently working on?

Usually every member of our team participates in several projects. Currently I’m involved in following activities:

§ GPS World Wide Specialization Lead. I perform a GPS World Wide Specialization Lead (SL) function for the application integration (APO-Integration) area. In my opinion SL activities and specialization communities play a key role in the process of building a professional community and consultants’ readiness. And it helps us to provide high quality service for partners.

§ Get Current. Get Current enables Partners to enhance business productivity and lower cost of operations, resulting in increased profitability through deployment of latest Microsoft technologies in their environment. Microsoft partners who deploy latest Microsoft technologies in-house have always been better equipped to demonstrate, sell and deploy these technologies for their customers. These internal deployments enable partners to understand and then showcase the real value proposition & business value to their customers.

I work on Get Current projects for ISV, for example, improving application lifecycle managements using Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server.

§ And the last but not least is Practice Accelerator (PA) which is a Microsoft offering for Microsoft Partners, designed to help partners build a technical services practice around Microsoft solutions. Practice Accelerator is an incredible idea! It is not a deep dive technical training, it is guidance about selling and deploying projects. I am responsible for SharePoint 2010 Practice Accelerator. SharePoint 2010 Practice Accelerator is a set of best practices, project documents and common guidance which allows partners to be ready for proactive selling and successful solution deployment.

How did you get to this role – what is your background and career path so far?

I joined Microsoft as an intern when I was studying in a technical university. Then I graduated with a Master degree of Computer Science and obtained a full time job. I started in Microsoft Russia Consulting Services (MCS) and by now I have worked for over 4 years. So I have wide range of project experience with enterprise business and small and medium size business as well.

Usually enterprise projects are long, complex, well known and draw a wide response. I remembered my feelings when I understood that I was a part of such a BIG THING! I participated in many projects in telecommunication industry, for example, implementing IPTV based on Microsoft Mediaroom platform. And now I’m a consumer of this service and it is very nice :)

Projects in a small and middle size market are different, these projects require quick response and simple and clear guidance. We have reasons to be proud in SMS&P as well. We can train partners to sell and deploy solutions and then see real results and production deployment. I know a lot of partners who participated in our Lync Server 2010 Get Current project and afterweard, successfully implement these practices on customers’ side in a two or three weeks (before Get Current partners usually estimated such deployment in one or two months). That is really amazing!

My future career plans are also connected with Microsoft :) Maybe in the future I will focus on non-technical things like people management and I will encourage people to do their best.

Can you tell me a little about the culture at Microsoft Russia? And if possible, what it's like to work at an international sub for Microsoft?

Business in Russia sometimes can be very distinctive (This is Russia). But joking apart we have outstanding people and teams in Microsoft Russia who work every day, very hard, to accomplish Microsoft’s global priority and be corresponding with Microsoft’s mission. Our team works hard to build trusted advisory channel for partners and this channel can be used at all stages of a project (sell, develop\deploy and break-fix).

We work very closely with our colleagues around the world. Not long ago I helped my colleague from the US who found me as a subject matter expert in Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) using my profile. And after some time I was proud to know that the partner we helped successfully developed the project and now the partner is going to introduce it at Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC).

Our foreign colleagues also provide assistance to Russian partners. I know Microsoft CRM experts from India and they always are ready to deliver online session or participate in a conference with a partner. We received very positive feedbacks from partners after such international collaboration. Because it shows Microsoft’s partners and customers care and what is the most important it helps to complete deals successfully.

And one thing I need to say is that we have a unique spirit across Microsoft World Wide and we have a great motto – One Microsoft. The same is true about Microsoft Russia.

What does work-life balance mean to you? Any great tips to help keep sane?

I have a little daughter, her name is Tala and she is almost 1 years old. We have a very good compensation package in Microsoft and it’s one of a nice benefit for me as working mother. I use medical insurance for my daughter and it has a good quality and saves me a lot of time.

I think that I can successfully combine a role of a mother with my job role. I hope when Tala will grow she confirms this :)

I don’t have any special tips to help keep sane? :) I suppose that collaboration is a very effective way to do things right and in time. So I often sync-up with my colleagues and we review the situation and quite often it really helps me :)

And of course my family (my mom, husband and daughter) are great support that keeps me going. I also play sport (badminton) where I can abstract from some problems and then, after a game, find a solution to them.

Why should an external candidate be looking for roles in Microsoft CSS?

Definitely Microsoft is a wonderful place to work. Microsoft has a great atmosphere and people. Everyone is open minded. Almost every day your manager provides you a new challenge. And I like it about Microsoft because it helps me be active.

I think Customer Service and Support subdivision is closest to customer everyday business and it is a unique chance to communicate directly with end customers and to hear about their needs. I am faced with real business and technical tasks every day. And I like solve them in right way and thereby help customer’s business to grow. And if you also like challenges and such style of work then CSS is a right choice for you!

Any advice for potential candidates looking to connect to Microsoft?

You can be connected with Microsoft in many different ways. First way (and maybe most obvious) is that potential candidate can apply to a job position in Microsoft. Market is growing and Microsoft has a lot of open positions: Product Manager, Support Engineer and so on.

Other ways I see are participation in Microsoft’s communities like MVP (Most Value Professionals) or other alliance and groups. MVPs are universally recognized specialists in different area. You may recognize MVPs as one of the most active users of technical forums MVPs often participate in Microsoft’s events and conferences as key speakers. I know a lot of MVPs who grows from local communities’ leads and regularly participates in TechNet, MSDN and others technical forums.

I think that Microsoft has really powerful communities around the world and everyone can receive a required information or\and contribute to it and provide help to another communities’ member. It makes Microsoft very strong. And everyone can be part of it!

Meet Shawn Aebi, General Manager in CTS

cwatkins1 — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:07:00 GMT

Our colleague had the chance to interview Shawn Aebi, General Manager with our CTS group. We're lucky enough to publish his interview here for you!

What is your current role and in which division is that in?

My current role is the General Manager in CSS for the Microsoft Commercial Technical Support division. My groups cover service delivery for Exchange and Lync, crisis management, large technical labs with latest hardware and virtualization technology. In addition we have security and privacy teams working closely with the Trustworthy Computing Group – this continues to be a fascinating area. Finally, I recently have started working more with our support leaders in Latin America across the broad array of commercial needs and am thrilled at being able to work with people in this amazing region.

What does crisis management entail?

Crisis Management has several parts to it: one such part was the strategic partnership between our groups and the premier customers. When they encounter major problems with Microsoft software which affect their business our Crisis team gets involved to accelerate all of the service delivery and make sure we have the right resources involved, including executive awareness. Right now, my role also is to ensure that we are technically ready for the cloud.

How long have you been at MSFT? And what keeps you motivated?

I have been here for 21 years, and after being here for so long have learned how to maintain a work/life balance. Sometimes you have to adjust to family needs, age of kids etc, but I also try for a balance by being involved with community work such as volunteering to serve on boards. I am fortunate that I have flexibility in my work so try to utilize that.

What was your original title when you first joined MSFT?

My original title was ‘Field technical specialist’ which meant that I was hired to help the sales team sell networking software in Washington DC. We were selling LAN Manager – a precursor to the components which are now built into Windows networking.

What do you do for fun?

I run a lot, and use that time to collect my thoughts and prioritize.

I also enjoy the theater-not acting but watching good theater. Seattle has a great collection of talent in the area: strong directors who have visions and execute them well.

What have you seen recently?

A production of “All my sons” by Arthur Miller at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle. This is a strong play about integrity: how honest you are with yourself. The director sets it in Seattle and adds a good twist to it-actually adds a different dimension. That play was also more engaging at this production as Arthur Miller’s sister attended it!

When you hire for your team, what type of soft skills do you seek out?

Smart people who like to problem solve: there are many constructors at MSFT, they are the ones who build code, however our team are more like detectives where we figure out how to take things apart.

Our team would need a very different skill set than a developer but there is a high amount of job satisfaction and there is the joy of helping people almost every week.

CTS VP Marlena Werder on cover of Greater Charlotte Biz

cwatkins1 — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:49:00 GMT

If you're in the Charlotte area, be sure to pick up a copy of the Greater Charlotte Biz and see for yourself CTS's VP - Marlena Werder - appearing on the cover! If you're not in the Charlotte area, you're in luck because they put the article online too.

(image from Greater Charlotte Biz website)

From the article:

Marlena Werder heads Commercial Technical Support for Microsoft, and she has been doing variations of this job for over 17 years with the company. If any enterprise—big or small—around the world runs into a problem with a Microsoft product, it’s Werder’s teams’ responsibility to find a solution. She is charged with driving the global strategy for CTS and managing teams based throughout the United States and in India.

She is in a position to see the breadth and depth of the Microsoft organization. With over 90,000 employees worldwide, customer service is critical to the success of the business.

“Microsoft directly connects with customers. Not only do we help and support customers, but we also want to learn from them to make future products more successful. Microsoft wants to be proactive and take a preventative posture—we want to get ahead of problems before the customers experience the symptoms of problems,” she explains.

[...]

Upon meeting Werder, one is impressed with her thoughtful, engaging nature and her obvious skill in managing broad and complex communications. She exudes determination to get to the root of problems and persistence in her ambitions to succeed.

She seems to have a great vision for working in a global world; she is very conscious of diversity—language, culture, age—and how it affects communications.

Werder is well prepared for her position at Microsoft. She holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Brown University, and an M.B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill.

She spent three years at Raytheon in software development and eight years at IBM Corporation in product development and sales. When she became a manager at IBM, she discovered a passion for creating environments—doing more collectively than as individuals.

She was recruited by Microsoft and went to work in Redmond, Wash., managing in the services business and working with technical account managers. She has held a number of leadership positions in the services business since, including leading large virtual teams, managing initiatives to drive quality customer experiences, and leading global optimization strategies.

With global accountability for business results, Werder recognizes the importance of being a people-manager first. “A lot of my job, and what I love about my job, is building collaboration across geographical, cultural and generational differences,” she acknowledges.

Werder credits her broad range of experiences with her passion for enabling people to deliver great service by offering long-term career development and creating an open, respectful and fun work environment.

“Technical skills are important, but also interpersonal awareness,” she says. “When customers call, they are usually pretty stressed out—so we need people who like to be ‘in the fire.’”

Werder works directly with Reggie Isaac, Charlotte Campus director and key representative to the community, as well as Michelle Thomas who works in community affairs.

Be sure to read the full article right here!

HOT JOBS & Some Great News

cwatkins1 — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:47:00 GMT

Not to bury the lead, we'll start first with this exciting piece out of Business Insider this week. Business Insider spoke with CSS CVP, Barbara Gordon, and Community & Online Support GM, Toby Richards. The author, Mark Feldman, then compared what he found in Microsoft's customer support to what Apple can provide. Well, I'll let you read more to see what he decided (spoiler alert: there's a reason we're posting this).

Why Microsoft is 3X Better than Apple for Customer Support

The Microsoft Online Customer Support Team
In sharp contrast, my discussions with Barbara Gordon, Corporate Vice President, Customer Service and Support for Microsoft were completely open and transparent. When asked about their approach to customer support, “We want to give our customers the ability to get resolutions to their issues with the least amount of work possible.”

Barbara went on to add, “We are always thinking about how we hold ourselves accountable for increasing customer (support) expectations.” She went on to explain how they measure first call resolution statistics and other key metrics in real time to ensure Microsoft is meeting their customers’ key challenges

Given how open Barbara and other team members are with answering questions and listening to feedback, it appeared to me that Microsoft is constantly checking the pulse of their support communities to ensure they are providing best-in-class customer support. Seems like the better approach.

So given that backdrop, how do the two companies compare?

(read more here)

Now, after getting completely energized about working for CSS - here are a couple of great openings we have right now! Both of which are in PQO - the organization Richards calls home as well.

SDET - Redmond, WA (753104)
SDET 2 - Redmond, WA (753780)

CSS's Jenny Lay-Flurrie talks to JobsBlog

cwatkins1 — Sat, 14 May 2011 00:03:28 GMT

CSS Senior Director Jenny Lay-Flurrie was recently profiled for the Microsoft JobsBlog. While I'm sure many of you watch the JobsBlog as regularly as this one, I wanted to be sure to highlight this profile here too. Be sure to check out the full interview at the original post!

By any standard, Jenny Lay-Flurrie has enjoyed an impressive career in the technology industry. But Jenny’s success is even more remarkable when you consider that she spent her education and much of her early career privately struggling with a hearing impairment.

For years, she was able to cope using hearing aids and lip reading, but when Jenny moved from our London office to our Redmond headquarters, she finally embraced her disability and reached out to management for support. We met up with Jenny at her office to talk about her experience and how she’s gone on to spearhead a company-wide cross disability group.

Jenny, did you always want to work in technology?
I actually wanted to be a musician. When I was a child, my mother would have me sit on speakers so that I could feel the music. I played the recorder and then flute, clarinet and piano. I studied music at university with an eye on a career as a musician or music therapist.

Profile: Steve Thomas

cwatkins1 — Sat, 07 May 2011 00:41:33 GMT

We have another CTS profile for you today - meet Steve Thomas, Sr. Support Escalation Engineer!

What is your Microsoft anniversary date?

I started as an FTE on May 15th, 2006. Before that I worked for Microsoft as a contractor.

What office/campus do you work at?

I work in the Las Colinas Campus in Irving, TX

What is your current role in Microsoft?

I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer and the CTS vertical Lead for System Center Virtualization

What kind of projects are you currently working on?

I recently completed CTS Readiness for MED-V v2 and served as a Beta Engineer for MED-V v2. Right now as Vertical/Support Topic Lead in the System Center Virtualization group, I am currently working to increase global collaboration between engineers supporting App-V, MED-V, VDI, and SCVMM to provide for a consistent customer support experience across the globe.

What have you blogged about?

I write extensively for the App-V and MED-V team blogs. Lately my blogs involve the changes in the new release of MED-V and I also have been blogging a lot on the issues encountered when virtualizing Office 2010 with App-V.

I am a big proponent of leveraging social media to communicate with partners, vendors, customers, friends, and family through Microsoft channels (Technet, MSDN) as well as my own personal channels (Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress) where I am known as the "Mad Virtualizer."

How did you get to this role – what is your background and career path so far?

After being a contractor in the 90's, I moved into academia for a while. Missing the action, I returned to the industry and to contracting including a stint with Microsoft. When the opportunity at Microsoft to join CTS full-time came to fruition, I jumped at the chance. I love troubleshooting and resolving complex issues.

Any advice for potential candidates looking to connect to Microsoft?

It seems that every job at Microsoft is unlimited in the potential impact you can have on your peers and the customer community you serve. It is amazing how you can influence your position to evolve. After working here for five years I realized that the worst mistake in my life was not coming to work here 15 years ago when I first had the chance.

Check out other CTS blogs here:

The SCVMM Team Blog
The Server App-V Team Blog
The ConfigMgr Support Team Blog
The Virtualization Team Blog
The Virtual PC Team Blog
The RDS Team Blog

Meet J.C. Hornbeck!

cwatkins1 — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:06:00 GMT

Today we have the pleasure of profiling for you another member of our CTS community – J.C. Hornbeck, a Knowledge Engineer with System Center Support. Read below to find out more about J.C.'s role and how you can learn to follow in his footsteps!

Name: J.C. Hornbeck

Title: Knowledge Engineer

Organization: CTS – System Center Support

Microsoft anniversary date: I was hired on May 11, 1992, and boy have things changed. Back then the company had a grand total of around 11,000 employees. Today we have roughly 8 times as many.

Office/campus I work at: I work at the Las Colinas campus in Irving, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas. This is the campus I was hired into and back in 1992 we had maybe 150 people working here at the time. The last numbers I saw for the Las Colinas campus today put us at somewhere around 1700 employees so it’s been quite a transformation.

My current role in Microsoft: Right now I am the Knowledge Engineer for the System Center specialty in CTS (Commercial Technical Support). Really that’s just a fancy way of saying I’m the content guy who manages the engineer driven technical documentation and processes for the products we support. I also oversee many of our online and social media properties like our blogs, our Facebook fan site and our Twitter feed. Ultimately my goal is to provide engineers with the content they need to successfully support our customers, and to provide customers with the content they need to successfully use our products. That could include publishing technical solutions, tips, updates on known issues and even general education topics and best practices on how to implement System Center solutions.

Current projects: In my opinion this is one of the best things about working for Microsoft and specifically CTS – there are always a bunch of interesting projects available for you to work on. One thing at the top of my list right now is working with some of the Knowledge Engineers (KEs) and managers in other specialties to unify our strategy and vision for the work the KE does and how we can better and more consistently serve the customers and engineers on a global basis. Currently the mission of each KE is largely defined by the particular specialty that a KE happens to be in, and while there’s no question we have to have that kind of flexibility to serve our business, there are many opportunities to positively impact the support engineers and our customers by building synergies in our actions across organizations. We’re also working on some really cool ideas on how to better identify the kinds of issues our customers are seeing so that we can better target the content we provide. I can’t really go into too many details on that but rest assured that we have some great things planned and we’re working hard to get the right information out in front of both engineers and customers as quickly as we can. Last but not least, I’m continually looking for ways to grow our online audience. I have 14 different blog properties that I either directly manage or I manage in conjunction with a specific product team, plus a Facebook fan site and a Twitter feed. Nobody in the world knows more about troubleshooting System Center products than our engineers so that essentially comes down to getting as much of their knowledge as I can out into the public realm where it’s available to customers. This is one area where social media tools like Facebook and Twitter have made a big difference. With the tools we have today we can notify our customer of a hot issue in a matter of minutes, whereas back when I started it might have been a week or more. But that’s only if you follow our content so see the links below and sign up today!

What I’ve blogged about: I’ve pretty much blogged about every System Center product we make. Now I’ll admit it’s a little different these days in that I don’t directly blog as much as I used to. When I first joined the System Center team we only supported maybe 3 or 4 products so it was a lot easier for me to specialize and write deep technical content. Back then I was a support engineer for Microsoft App-V (SoftGrid) so most of what I blogged about was virtualizing apps and how to configure streaming servers and all that, but today it’s very different for me. Due to the incredible success of the System Center family of products, we’ve gone through a tremendous growth period which is a very good thing, but that also means I’m more of an overseer of the blogs rather than a primary, individual contributor. Most of my work with our blogs goes into trying to identify potential blog content and finding knowledgeable resources to write it. Fortunately our System Center engineers all do a great job of documenting new issues and tips so they really help make this part of my job easy.

How I got this role, my background and my career path so far: Having been a support engineer since way back in 1992, I’ve always seen the tremendous value that having good content provides. It’s been a passion of mine since the very beginning so when the opportunity came up back in 2007 I managed to talk the group into letting me have the job and I’ve been at it ever since. As far as my career path goes, it seems that there aren’t a whole lot of jobs I haven’t done around here. Back in 1992 I started out doing consumer support for Windows 3.x, then I worked a couple beta projects including MS-DOS 6. That led to Windows for Workgroups 3.x and eventually an opportunity to live in Redmond for a few months working with the dev team on the Windows 95 beta. When I came back I joined our internal training department for a one year rotation to develop and deliver the Windows 95 training to the rest of the Las Colinas support engineers. That class ended up being two full weeks long and was probably one of the most demanding job I’ve ever had, but at the same time it was also one of the most rewarding. Once my training rotation was over decided I wanted to try something new so I took a job as a Technical Account Manager in the South Central region. That was a fantastic experience and I got the chance to work with some really great accounts and meet a bunch of really great people. I did that for about 3 years and while I really loved my work I also realized that I was missing probably one of the greatest opportunities a technical guy like me could ever have – working in support for the people who actually created the best enterprise class products in the world. After all, if you truly want to become an expert in Exchange, or Windows networking, or Configuration Manager or whatever, where are you going to get a better opportunity than in Microsoft’s enterprise support business? And on top of that they paid you to learn it! So in 1998 I moved to what we called the Premier Desktop team which supported Windows and IE for our enterprise customers. From there I moved to our networking team and lived there for about three years. Networking was another passion of mine and I probably learned more while on the networking team than on any other. By the time I left I felt there was no issue with any router, protocol, service or firewall that I couldn’t fix. After that I moved to our Windows Performance team where we specialized in debugging user mode apps and troubleshooting performance related issues. I was on that team for about a year when I got the opportunity to help start up our brand new Application Virtualization support team. We had just acquired Softricity and they needed someone to travel to Boston to help onboard their support staff and then come back and help build the Texas based support team and I was lucky enough to get selected to do that. That was another great experience as I think I learned as much from them as they did from me. Not long after that, the App-V team got merged into the overall System Center group and the rest is history.

Any advice for potential candidates looking to connect to Microsoft? Know your stuff, be confident, but at the same time don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. Be curious and show that you’re not afraid to take on new challenges. Build your customer service skills. Microsoft is a technology company but no matter what organization you end up with, serving the customer is always job 1.

Anything else? If you love helping people, if you’re passionate about technology, and if you want to work with the smartest people in the industry, there’s no better place than Microsoft. The opportunities are endless. I’ve been here for almost 20 years now and I’m as excited about the future as I’ve ever been - I can’t imagine a more rewarding and exciting place to work.

Toby Richards Contributes to Customer Think

cwatkins1 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:49:01 GMT

You've met Toby on this blog before, and now we're happy to share this article he contributed to Customer Think. Toby shares some great ideas around brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, ideas he can put into practice as the GM of our Community & Online Support group within PQO.

There are many things in life we have to work for – a living, for one, as well things like optimal fitness and healthy relationships. But there are some things in life, such as customer support, that we’d just as soon not put forth much effort toward, and understandably so.

According to recent research from the Customer Contact Council, for 96 percent of customers who have to work for their own satisfaction (find resources, solutions, answers, etc.), their loyalty to the company brand is challenged. And in a time when customer loyalty is critical to business success, it makes sense to make support more predictive and accessible in order to foster greater customer confidence and brand loyalty.

For those of us in the customer support industry, all of this should come as no surprise. However, this kind of support, which I’ll call proactive support, is all too uncommon and requires an added degree of focus and creativity from businesses that choose to embrace it.

Read the rest of the article at CustomerThink.com.

Profile: Richard Pesenko

cwatkins1 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:57:00 GMT

Today we're happy to bring you this profile of CTS SR. Support Escalation Engineer, Rich Pesenko. You can read more from Rich on the posts he's written for Operations Manager (here and here) and Mobile Device Manager here.

Editor's note: When this post originally published on April 20, we misspelled Rich's last name. Our deepest apologies at this misstep. It has now been corrected.

What is your Microsoft anniversary date? June 14, 1997

What office/campus do you work at? Las Colinas Campus - Irving, Texas

What is your current role in Microsoft? Senior Support Escalation Engineer, System Center (Monitoring Vertical)

What kind of projects are you currently working on? In addition to providing support for Enterprise customers, I’ve have been focused on creating and providing training for our new hires and partners. I also have been creating internal-facing and external-facing content (KB Articles, Blogs, etc.) related to the System Center products I support.

What have you blogged about? Windows Powershell, Operations Manager, System Center Mobile Device Manager

How did you get to this role – what is your background and career path so far? I was a research assistant at a medical center and one of my duties was to maintain the computers in our department’s labs and offices. I enrolled in a Windows NT 3.51 MCSE training program and was recruited by Microsoft for a Windows NT 4.0 Support Engineer position. I have supported several products since then and held many different roles in CSS prior to my current position.

Any advice for potential candidates looking to connect to Microsoft? My support team looks for candidates that are enthusiastic about learning new skills and not afraid to be challenged. We want people that are self-motivated and can easily learn from self-study activities. Candidates should be confident and have great customer service skills. Most importantly, we need people that have excellent problem solving skills.

Anything else? Microsoft is an exciting and rewarding place to work. I have been here fourteen years, and there are still days where I think to myself “I work at Microsoft, how cool is that?”. There are plenty of opportunities to grow your career here and it’s still a great environment to work in.

Relevant blogs:

- Operations Manager

- Systems Center Essentials

- Opalis

- AVIcode

- Service Manager

- Mobile Device Manager

HOT JOBS: April 13

cwatkins1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:35:15 GMT

Here are HOT JOBS for the week - this time from around CTS. We mentioned a couple weeks ago about our upcoming features on the group, and we didn't lie. There will be more from CTS this week! In the meantime, check out the job opportunities they have to offer up:

Support Engineer - Non-Location Specific (750208)
Support Engineer - Las Colinas, TX (751024)
Support Escalation Engineer - Charlotte, NC (747372)
Support Escalation Engineer - Issaquah, WA (751225)

HOT JOBS: April 5, 2011

cwatkins1 — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:31:05 GMT

Hot Jobs are back! We took some time to think about how best to deliver these to you fine folks and are back with what we hope will be a better Hot Jobs feature than ever. Each Tuesday we'll post up to 5 jobs that one recruiter has identified as truly HOT. That way you, the job seeker, knows that there's no fooling around here - these are only the jobs that are sincerely top priority for the recruiters. Each week the jobs will come from a different recruiter, which means that each week will predominantly feature a different group in CSS. These jobs come out of PQO and CTS!

Sr. SDET - Redmond WA (740023)
SDET - Redmond, WA (744920)
Sr. SDE - Redmond, WA (749104)
SharePoint Support Escalation Engineer - (This job can be filled in Las Colinas TX, Charlotte NC, Fargo ND, or Boise ID!) (745959)

There you go! Be sure to send cssjobs@microsoft.com email when you apply - reference the job number and we can get your name/resume straight to the recruiter's desk. Happy week all!

The Multi-Faceted World of Commercial Technical Support

cwatkins1 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:33:41 GMT

We are gearing up to bring you more information about one large portion of CSS - Commercial Technical Support. Learn more about some specific clusters in CTS by visiting any of the many blogs below. Then be on the lookout as we profile contributors in the coming weeks for the chance to dig deeper! Just the perfect reading list for the weekend!

The App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/

The WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The SCMDM Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/mdm/

The ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/

The OpsMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/operationsmgr/

The SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm/

The MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/

The DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/

The OOB Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/oob/

The Opalis Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/opalis

The Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager

The AVIcode Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/avicode

The System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials

Microsoft is Recognized as Valuable Brand & Highly Ethical

cwatkins1 — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 21:27:07 GMT

News came out recently from Brand Finance that lists Microsoft's brand value as #2 in the world, valued at $42.81 billion. This is a jump in three spots from last years fifth place ranking. You can learn more about Brand Finance's Brand Directory and see the full Global 500 list here. They base their valuations on corporate revenue, sales forecasts, and bank discount rates.

This is some fantastic news that comes right on the heels of learning last week that Microsoft was also named one of the most ethical companies by the NYC think tank, The Ethisphere Institute. Forbes wrote about that story and you can read the full article here:

"Based on the information [we gather], Ethisphere verifies responses before a final score is provided," says Alex Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute. "Some of the information is easily verified and publicly available, and other times we request that companies send us non-public information to validate responses. This could include training policies, whistle-blower programs, internal tone-from-the-top communications and so forth."

Once the pool is culled down to a few hundred, Ethisphere cross-checks it against governance lists from organizations including GovernanceMetricsInternational and FTSE for Good. Any company that has had significant legal trouble over the past five years is dropped. Companies that focus on alcohol, tobacco or firearms also get the boot.

Profile: Claudio Costagliola di Fiore, Senior Project Manager

cwatkins1 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:44:59 GMT

What is your current title and how long have you been at Microsoft?

I have joined Microsoft a bit more than a year ago, coming from 10+ experience working in a Project Management/Consulting capability working first for Accenture and Oracle afterwards, since joining I had the privilege and also the opportunity to drive the Social Media initiative in EMEA.

In my role as Senior Program Manager within the Strategy Management team, I help Microsoft Customer Service & Support (CSS) business to develop and execute strategies in line with our overall customer-centric vision. My current focus is to help CSS to shape up and execute our social media strategy in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

For sake of clarity, Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) is the support engine behind Microsoft’s products. We are passionate about our customers and strive to listen to their voice and guide them along their journey with Microsoft products and continuously look at ways to innovate our support service is no exception; we aim to make it as easy as possible for customers to reach us via whatever channel is most convenient to them, and to find answers to their queries – Social Media is one of the ways in which we are looking to innovate our support to Customers especially targeted (but not exclusive) to the young / digital natives that have more familiarity with the Social platforms such as Facebook and twitter.

When and how did you first become involved in Social Media? Think Personal OR professionally

Social media has increased in popularity over recent years, making these platforms fast and effective channels to reach large communities of consumers.

As an example of the reach of social media, if Facebook were a country it would be the second largest country in the world.

This is impressive, Social media is re-shaping the way that people seek and share information, so it’s important that we as individuals recognize this wave of changes and that Businesses cater for these millions of users, connect to them and support them.

Personally, I have been interested to Social Media from the start of this phenomenon, initially interested to the social impacts this was having with our culture and society; I was then offered the opportunity to be involved also on a professional level so I embraced if also as part of my everyday job.

This might sound somehow controversial but social media is in my view exposing all our ‘human behaviours’ online and I find fascinating the power this information is now giving to us – Social Media is undoubtedly offering a great platform where we can read and learn more about our people, what they think and in general about our society.

I think it’s fascinating to have such a rich set of information now available and it’s even more exciting to be among the first to have the opportunity to try and ‘make some sense’ to all these data.

From a business prospective, I believe it’s important for every successful company to be concerned and ‘in tune’ with everything that is happening in our society and Social Media is no exception.

People (that are also Customers) are talking on Social Media whether we like it or not; these same people are taking in large volumes to channels such as Twitter and Facebook to talk about their product experiences and seek advice; a good management of their feedback through the enablement of a ‘social connection’ should be in my view an essential element of any large company’s strategy.

How do you feel Social Media is changing our interaction with Customers?

Today, customers can reach Companies and Microsoft in a number of ways, from more traditional methods such as phone and email, to newer ways including Chat and social media – channels that are becoming increasingly popular with end-users and which, in turn, are shaping the way in which customers want to interact with organisations of all sizes.

With this in mind our initiative, following the launch of our English Twitter support in October last year, has launched our French, German, Italian and Dutch support on twitter and Facebook and already we have had a fantastic response to the service. We have reached more than 10,000 followers to all our accounts and have sent more than 4,500 tweets to customers. We receive about 300 – 400 weekly questions worldwide and proactively reach out to around 200 customers a week, to offer help with issues or queries even before they reach us with their questions.

One of the benefits of social media as a support platform is that users log on to these networks to socialise, share and connect, therefore they tend to be very honest regarding our products, and ask very direct questions, which helps us to create strong, personal connections with our customers. A number of end-users have contacted us “wishing us good luck” with our social media initiative and they have been advocating our products and services through their own personal Twitter accounts.

Effective and efficient customer support is critical to Microsoft’s overall success and a key competitive differentiator, so it’s important that we are always ahead of the game. Our aim is to break down barriers between us and our customers, and find new ways to listen, engage and support large communities of Microsoft users. Organisations should not be asking whether or not to engage with customers via social media, but asking how best, and when, to use these powerful networks to communicate with all audiences.

Social support is also simple and effective. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are really just new channels through which customers can reach us. Just as in the past a customer could pick up a phone to ask us a question, now they can submit a query through their favourite social network.

When did you join the WW Social Media Engagement Council and what role do you play on the team?

I joined the WW Social Media Engagement Council about a year ago when we first kicked off the project in EMEA, as EMEA Project Manager I am pretty much representing the voice of EMEA during the council meetings and together with working with the council members to define, develop, evangelize and deliver our WW Social Media strategy, I also ‘help through sharing’ that is one of the Council’s key objectives behind the creation of these WW synergies.

Being Social Media such a ‘new thing’, I think it is essential that we create a culture within the council (but also everywhere else on the project) where we keep an eye open for ‘the latest and greatest’ things happening on Social media and that we share those internally to improve what we do today.

It’s only through listening and sharing that we have been able to deliver so quickly our initial model WW and that we continue to add value always delivering new capabilities & services.

Finally things change so quickly in this arena that sharing and becoming Social Media advocates should be seen as an essential part of our job.

What are your Social Media predictions relative to customer experience for 2011?

Social media is still a new and evolving area, so there are still some uncertainties regarding exactly how the social media phenomenon is going to evolve. It’s a new world where our traditional formulas no longer apply and we have the challenge of studying and defining a completely new engagement model with customers.

I feel that now is the right time to be embracing the social media model as we cannot ignore the fact that this is the way in which many customers now prefer to communicate with us.

We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in the next five years or how this is going to develop, but I personally expect this to grow to a very steady pace and continue to see more and more people investing in engaging with each other and with companies in this new channel.

As for Microsoft, we are committed to innovating and investing in new support channels, including this one in order to continue to meet customer needs and help our customers in the best possible ways.

What is your advice to candidates seeking employment in social media?

I’d say ‘go for it’, at the end of the day we must recognize that the world is changing – it’s becoming more oriented on social interactions and communities

While traditional methods – such as the phone – will still continue to exist, it will become more and more a priority for every company to give customers as many options as possible and enable them to connect in the way the customer wants hence also via Social Media.

Considering that millions of people nowadays like to use Facebook and Twitter to “talk” to their friends, why shouldn’t this also apply to when they want to talk to companies?

This is a phenomenon that in my view is bound to stay for a very long while and building skills in this area now that is still fresh, will give people that extra ‘something’ that will differentiate them from other candidates.

So I would encourage people to develop themselves in this area while companies will look for those skillset more and more in the very near future.

There’s also plenty of information available online on this topic, great articles and analysis and I would encourage all candidates to keep themselves very up-to-dated with all the things happening there and to actually use the social media channels themselves to stay connected with their friends and family and to promote their profiles or if they are not sharing the ‘social media mind-set’ they can always create a profile and use it just as a way to experience first-hand what’s happening on Social Media.

Two Honors for Microsoft (and by the way, we're hiring!)

cwatkins1 — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:43:00 GMT

In the past week, two different well respected establishments lauded Microsoft. First, there was Fortune Magazine naming Microsoft as one of the most admired companies! We ranked in the Top 10 - ninth to be exact, which is up two spots from last year. If you compare across industry, Microsoft was ranked #3, also a two spot jump from last year. What made Microsoft stand out?

In the past couple of years Microsoft has rolled out strong new products. Search engine Bing is a viable (though still vastly less popular) alternative to Google.

Xbox Kinect has successfully cut into the motion-sensor video game market in which Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Move compete. And its Windows Phone 7, according to early reports, is holding its own against Android, iPhone and BlackBerry.

Microsoft also says it has sold 300 million licenses for the Windows 7 operating system to date.

See the rest of the list and details here!

This great news was followed up this week by the fine folks at Guinness World Records naming the Kinect as the Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device. Congratulations to the Kinect team and to the Kinect support team for providing a great product!

Guinness World Records, the global authority on record breaking, today confirm that the Kinect for the Xbox 360 is the Fastest-Selling Consumer Electronics Device. The hardware, that allows controller-free gaming, sold through an average of 133,333 units per day, for a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days on sale from 4 November 2010 to 3 January 2011.

The sales figures outstrip both the iPhone and the iPad for the equivalent periods after launch.

Gaz Deaves, Editor of Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition, said: “The sales figures here speak for themselves. We can confirm that no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector.”

If you want to be part of this kind of amazing energy, then you might like to know that Commercial Technical Support is definitely hiring right now. Check them out here, where you can also find a link to apply!

Celebrating International Women's Day

cwatkins1 — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:17:28 GMT

Microsoft Services is proud to celebrate International Women's Day, today. To get an idea of why we're celebrating 100 years of International Women's Day, Daniel Craig and Dame Judy Dench teamed up to put a Bond style spin on the occasion. See the video below and read the full article from the Guardian to hear some startling facts about gender inequity in the UK and across the world.

Next week be sure to keep celebrating with Microsoft Services as we host another webinar event focusing on Women in Services Worldwide. On the 15th March join us to explore a career Innovated. Hear from our leaders and recruiters on what differentiates us and why Diversity and Inclusion is one of Microsoft top priorities through online presentation and webcasts. Participate at online chats with company representatives. Times to be announced shortly.

Microsoft Services is the consulting, technical support, and customer service arm of the world’s leading software company. The Microsoft Services professional helps customers and partners discover and implement high-value Microsoft solutions that generate rapid, meaningful, and measurable results. Watch for more information and register here.

EVENT: 2011 International Women's Day

cwatkins1 — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 23:19:55 GMT

Like last year, we have another great event lined up for this year's International Women's Day thanks to our UK Services partners. See the information below and click the link to register for the webinar!

88 countries, 44 languages, the latest technology, and 54 million customer touch points per year.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

For the past 100 years on 8th March, thousands of events have been held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events.

Microsoft Services will be celebrating International Women’s day by holding an International event to talk about why Diversity and Inclusion is a priority for our business and why here at Microsoft your career can be truly Innovated!

On the 15^th March join us to explore a career Innovated. Hear from our leaders and recruiters on what differentiates us and why Diversity and Inclusion is one of Microsoft top priorities through online presentation and webcasts. Participate at online chats with company representatives. Times to be announced shortly.

Microsoft Services is the consulting, technical support, and customer service arm of the world’s leading software company. The Microsoft Services professional helps customers and partners discover and implement high-value Microsoft solutions that generate rapid, meaningful, and measurable results.

http://www.careernomics.com/microsoft1103/candidates/welcome.php

Events: Career Open Houses and Celebrating African American Heritage at Microsoft

cwatkins1 — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:20:00 GMT

We have four events to share coming up in the next few weeks. Check them out!

If you're in the Alpharetta, GA area and want to see what our Military to Microsoft program is about, as well as learn more about our friends in Microsoft Enterprise Services, visit the open house next week on March 3rd at the Microsoft offices. Event is from 4:00 - 7:00 and you can RSVP at: http://m2malpharetta.eventbrite.com/
A second career fair is happening in Edina, MN on March 12 or in Fargo, ND on March 19. Register and find more information by clicking checking out their Eventbrite page.
And finally, next month, we have a Career Webinar celebrating African American Heritage at Microsoft. This event was originally scheduled for February 24, but has been moved to March 24 and will be held at 6:00 PM ET. To learn more check out the page here and register for the event!

Las Colinas Career Fair

cwatkins1 — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:55:00 GMT

Last weekend our Las Colinas campus hosted a career fair and one intrepid CSS employee was kind enough to share the video he took of the event! Thank you to Jeff Taylor!

Click the screen shot below to open the video and see what you can expect when you attend a Microsoft Career Fair. This video features CSS Staffing Consultant Terry Jordan, Las Colinas Site Director Rich Driscoll, Escalation Manager Maria Jospeh, and Support Escalation Engineer Joao Madureira, and Support Escalation Manager Tim Bethea.

Thank you to everyone who visited the open fair and our CSS employees who helped make it happen! Follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryJRecruiter to learn more about Las Colinas opportunities in CSS.