Careers in SharePoint Office 365 & Azure

Matthew J. Bailey

SharePoint Saturday, Virginia BeachJanuary 2015

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A Few Friendly Reminders…

Today’s Special

Topics on the menu today

• The presentation background• A brief talk about the change in the job industry surrounding

SharePoint & Microsoft• Blab about me, ask about you…• Describe in general what are:

• SharePoint• Office 365• Azure

• Describe where and how they are used• Review job statistics and current openings across the U.S.A.• Review and demonstrate some of the skills needed for the

positions

My personal research and opinions. Always perform your own research in addition to my own before investing large amounts of time and/or money into a career.

This Presentation is Based Upon..

Research from leading IT job posting websites as well as opinions from others in the Microsoft community I have spoken with.

Specialist skill sets. This means that the entire job role is specific to that skill set, not just a part of it. For example, at the help desk part of you job might be answering calls about SharePoint, however, you may also answer calls for network issues, laptop support, etc. Today’s presentation will not include shared skill set job roles as they are hard to measure.

Although we do not have time today to focus on everything changing in the world of technology, it is important to note that as today in January 2015, careers in the world of Microsoft technology and SharePoint are starting to move in other directions.

Mind you, SharePoint jobs are not going away any time soon. Companies have invested huge amounts of time, money and effort creating custom SharePoint applications to meet their business needs. However, there is a new paradigm shift starting with the integration of SharePoint with other technologies, both Microsoft and non-Microsoft. The cloud is starting to make a presence in actual practice instead of just “marketing hype”. Lastly, Microsoft is continuing to push its cloud and mobile technologies over its on-premises software products and this most likely will not change.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid SharePoint as there will still be further on-premises releases of the product and there are still over 2,500 SharePoint specific jobs in the USA alone. It just means technology will always change and to be aware of the changes happening in the industry to keep your skill set in line with market demand.

2015 – The Year of Change

I consider myself a “SharePoint All-Rounder”. My job tasks vary including Administration, Development, Training, Analysis, UAT and Project Management. My job changes daily based on the crazy life of an IT fellow in corporate America, but it keeps things interesting!

I am have worked with SharePoint for almost seven years, Office 365 and Azure for about 2 years. I do not consider myself an expert but have a fair amount of knowledge with the technology and currently use it daily in my career.

If I don’t know an answer to one of your questions, I will try to find it out or point you in the right direction!

Matthew J. BaileySharePoint Administrator / Architect

Me, me, me…

You, you, you!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

• Who is at the beginning of their career in either IT or SharePoint, Office 365 or Azure (either new to the IT industry completely, new or returning to the job market, recently graduated or changing from a different career) ?

• Who has already started exploring or has a career in IT but are new to SharePoint, Office 365 or Azure ?

• Who is already involved with SharePoint, Azure, Office 365 and looking to enhance their skills or change job roles ? What have you done so far?

• Who does not fall into any of these categories ? Do tell…

SharePoint

What is SharePoint?

“A web application platform developed by Microsoft” - Wikipedia

• Swiss army knife of technology for content management, websites, search, etc.

• A mixture of “OOTB (out of the box)” functionality with the option to build upon this with and integrate with other systems

• Built upon the Microsoft .NET stack of technologies, although changing to a more open source approach with JavaScript, CSS & HTML5

• More information can be found at: http://www.discoversharepoint.com/

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Common Uses of SharePoint

What can I do with SharePoint?• Company intranets• Document management• Team collaboration portals• External customer portals• Workflow scenarios & document approval• Search• Project Management• Public internet sites where publishing / multi-authoring is

needed

*This will probably change in the future, but it summarizes most of what is happening as of January 2015.

Companies Using SharePoint

Over 78% percent of Fortune 500 companies used SharePoint in 2011

• Usually larger companies• Insurance• Financial• Manufacturers• Healthcare (some)• Government – (Usually requires clearance) • Consulting agencies - Office 365 can be used by smaller

companies, but work is usually limited to smaller amounts vs. long term or permanent job opportunities

Why Choose a Career Using SharePoint?

Umm… cause I like need a job

You enjoy consistently learning new technologies and enjoy IT Job security & stability, a lot of openings and probably will be

for at least 3-5 years minimum Opportunities are usually with larger companies that have

good benefits & pay $$$ – because mortgage payments don’t pay themselves!

SharePoint Job Roles / Functions

Current typical SharePoint job roles *

• Administrator / Engineer• Developer• Business Analyst• Project Manager• Power User• Architect (Solution Architect or Infrastructure Architect)• Other (Designer, Trainer, etc.)

* interpretive, find example job descriptions from job websites

SharePoint Job Roles by Percentage

Administrator / EngineerDeveloperBusiness AnalystProject ManagerArchitect (description varies)Support / Help Desk (entry-level, not dev or admin support)Power User / SharePoint KnowledgeOther (trainer, design, random)

* Estimations based on job postings from web sites for the USA only

Job Descriptions Can VaryThe following are guidelines of job descriptions but not definitive rules. Each company has unique needs and different people involved in the process of posting the job requirements so job listings can vary.

Before We Begin Our Demos & Review of Detailed Job Descriptions…

Patience is a Virtue

These job skills may seem overwhelming at first but remember we all started learning it somewhere.

StudyTime Help

SharePoint Power User / Skills

• Will usually be a part of another job function such as:• Department Manager• Administrative Assistant• Team Leader• Legal profession• Analyst

• Understand how SharePoint works from a workflow, repository, data storage & collaboration tool

• Lists• Libraries• Term store / managed

metadata• Search• InfoPath• User Profiles / My Sites• Page Layouts• Publishing• Pages• Security / Permission levels• Web parts

Demo – SharePoint Power User / SharePoint Skills

SharePoint Help Desk / Support

• As with many help desk positions, opportunities are shrinking due to offshoring and IT budget cuts

• In most cases these jobs will only include some SharePoint job functions and require supporting other technologies a business uses as well

• You will need a strong understanding of all end user functions as well as some basic administration skills

• You most likely will be often forwarding questions to more experienced SharePoint professionals

I will be skipping over a demo of this job description.

SharePoint Business Analyst

• Job growth is starting to increase• A newer job role to the SharePoint industry• Job title can be quite varied and not always mean the same

thing• Usually will include job functions such as:

• Understanding what SharePoint can do as a technology• Understand the difficulty of creating different types of

solutions• Meeting with end users and stakeholders to understand

their needs and how SharePoint can help them• Being a liaison between developers, end users,

administrators and others to work with projects• Create documentation such as test cases, functional

documents, technical documents, process flow charts, cost savings analysis, etc.

Demo – SharePoint Business Analyst

**Shameless Plug** Come see my session today after lunch to learn more about being a SharePoint Business Analyst

and creating SharePoint business requirements!

SharePoint Project Manager• Be persistent and consistently stay on top of tasks• Must be able to deal with many different types of people and

personality types• Handle stressful situations, keep projects on time and in

budget (can be much harder than it sounds)• Require skills such as Microsoft Project (or similar) • Balance your dependency on other’s technical talent and your

level of technical skills (i.e., you will become a much better Project Manager if you understand the technology and won’t always be reliant on others)

I will be skipping over a demo of this job description.

SharePoint Administrator / Engineer• Monitoring, troubleshooting, patching & upgrades to servers• Possess skills similar to a “detective” to troubleshoot issues• Cloud & virtualization technologies• Internet server (IIS) configuration and understanding• Active Directory and different types of authentication• Networking experience such as TCP/IP, DNS, firewalls,

security, SAN, routers, backups• Scripting / programming ability with languages such as

PowerShell to automate manual processes (i.e., server installations, creating users, etc.)

• Understands some architecture (i.e., how many servers are needed and what processes should be running on each server)

• Knowledge of complimentary database technologies such as SQL server

• Security!!!

• ULS logs• PowerShell• Active Directory• Security – server• Permissions - user• SQL Server Management• Install solutions• Monitoring / reports• Architecture / topology • Server performance• Random troubleshooting, • Azure & Office 365 –

(depends)• Web Applications• Service Applications• Term store / metadata

• Search• InfoPath• User Profiles / My Sites• Virtualization • Storage (SAN, VNS, VNX )• Claims & ADFS• IIS• Microsoft Core technologies• Backups & restore

Demo – SharePoint Administrator / Engineer

SharePoint Developer• The SharePoint development role is changing toward more

of an open source HTML 5/CSS concept, however most jobs will still require a good understanding of .net & C#

• Be very good at detailed, analytical, troubleshooting type of work between different programming languages technologies that work with SharePoint

• Understand the differences between built in functionality that can be implemented simply and the need for custom coding

• The ability to test and ensure programs you have developed function properly

• A varied skill set of the following programming languages & environments:• .NET & C#• InfoPath, SharePoint Designer• JavaScript (jQuery, mobile JavaScript frameworks,

SPServices)• PowerShell

• SharePoint Designer• Custom page layouts• InfoPath• Design with CSS/HTML 5• Visual Studio• C# - Web parts• Creating custom solutions

such as event receivers, web parts, complex workflows, data repositories, web services, etc.

• Web Services• SQL Server Management

Studio• Install solutions• Azure & Office 365

• JavaScript – Client side development & app model

• ULS logs• PowerShell• Microsoft Core technologies• Service Applications• Term store / metadata• Search• User Profiles / My Sites• Custom features / apps• Farm vs. sandboxed solutions• 3rd party tools (Nintex, K2,

etc.)

Demo – SharePoint Developer

SharePoint Architect

• Traits / skills that would be good – detective, etc• Capacity planning• Topology • Integration with other systems• Define the relationship between the physical and logical

architecture

Determine when and how to use custom solutionsDefine the deployment processSubject Matter Export

The best way to create and build custom solutionsEstablish best practices & governance

SharePoint Architect - Infrastructure• Best practices in setting up

server farms and deciding which processes should go where

• Understanding performance and how powerful your resources will need to be as well as how many servers will be needed

Demo – SharePoint Architect

SharePoint Architect Solution Developer• Offering ideas to solve business

challenges• Knowledge of best practices on

how to build specific types of solutions

• Mentoring or training others in SharePoint (usually development)

• Expert level C#/JavaScript SharePoint & .NET development

Office 365

What is Office 365?

SaaS – Software as a Service"Office 365" refers to subscription plans that include access to Office applications plus other productivity services that are enabled over the Internet (cloud services), such as Lync web conferencing and Exchange Online hosted email for business, and additional online storage with OneDrive and Skype world minutes for home.

Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of the latest Office applications, which users can install across multiple computers and devices. The Office 365 plans that are online-only are a great choice for certain business needs, and they are compatible with desktop versions of the latest version of Office, Office 2010, Office 2007 (with slightly limited functionality), Office 2011 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac.

All Office 365 plans are paid for on a subscription basis, monthly or annually.

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Some Uses of Office 365

What can I do with SharePoint?• Email / Lync• Company intranets• Company extranets• Office Apps• SharePoint Online• Delve / Power BI/ Project Online

*This will probably change in the future, but it summarizes most of what is happening as of January 2015.

Office 365 Job Roles / Functions

Current typical Office 365 job roles *

• Office 365 / Exchange Engineer• Office 365 / Lync Engineer• Office 365 / SharePoint Administrator• Office 365 Specialist Sales / Presales

* interpretive, many are similar, find example job descriptions from job websites

Office 365 Job Roles by Percentage

Exchange / Office 365

Lync / Office 365

Presales / Sales

Office 365 / SharePoint / Generalist

* Estimations based on job postings from web sites in December 2014 for the USA

Companies Using Office 365

Mostly a subsection of the same companies that are using SharePoint or that use Exchange• Usually larger companies• Insurance• Financial• Manufacturers• Healthcare (some)• Government – (Usually requires clearance, time for the

“Snowden story”) • Consulting agencies - Office 365 can be used by smaller

companies, but work is usually limited to smaller amounts vs. long term or permanent job opportunities

Why Choose a Career in Office 365?

Umm… cause I like will need a job in the future

You enjoy consistently learning new technologies and enjoy IT Job security & stability, a lot of openings and probably will be

for at least 3-5 years minimum Opportunities are usually with larger companies that have

good benefits & pay $$$ – because mortgage payments don’t pay themselves!

Office 365 Architect / Engineer

• Exchange• Active Directory• ADFS• Lync• Sometimes SharePoint• Presales

SharePoint Architect - Infrastructure• Best practices in setting up

server farms and deciding which processes should go where

• Understanding performance and how powerful your resources will need to be as well as how many servers will be needed

• Migrating from on-premises or creating hybrid environments

• AD and Azure AD experience• Experience with MS Lync Voice a

plus• Must have experience with the

current releases of Microsoft Windows server, Windows workstation products, and

experience with other Microsoft server-based products

Must have experience with Office 365 deployment• 2-3 years experience in ExchangeSolid Understanding of mail flow, SMTP, TLS, DNS, Certificates, and PowerShell, and OutlookConceptual understanding of Lync, SharePoint, Federation Services, Forefront Online Protection for ExchangeMCSE and/or MCITP certification

Demo – Office 365 Engineer

Microsoft Azure

What is Azure?

IaaS & PaaS (Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service)

• A cloud computing platform and infrastructure, created by Microsoft, for building, deploying and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.

• It could be the hardware you run your software on• It could be the platform you build software solutions on• Works with and runs open-source software such as Linux,

Docker, Node.js and many more…

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Common Uses of Azure

What can I do with Azure?

• A LOT• Azure AD• Mobile Services• IaaS• PaaS• Search• Run open-source such as Linux, Docker, non-open source

such as SAP and Oracle• Disaster Recovery• Much more and it changes weekly!!

*This will probably change in the future, but it summarizes most of what is happening as of January 2015.

Companies Using Azure

A mix of companies, some corporate and some in start ups, mid-size and unique industries.• It is varying quite a bit right now• There is a new “Government cloud” for Azure that is being

launched, unsure of adoption rate as of this time• Many companies that have Microsoft licensing agreements

but to what extent is unknow

Azure Job Roles / Functions

Current typical Azure job roles *

• Azure “Evangelist” / Sales / Presales• Azure Cloud Architect / Engineer• Azure DevOps - ?• Azure / .Net Developer* Over 90% of the current job postings were from Microsoft directly* interpretive, many are similar, find example job descriptions from job websites

Why Choose a Career using Azure?

Umm… cause I like need a job in the future and want to diversify into broader skill sets You enjoy consistently learning new technologies and enjoy IT You like working with newer technologies and being on the

cutting edge of new technology You are open to taking some risk with a newer, not quite as

established technology

.Net / Azure Developer Skills & Requirements:Deep understanding of the Azure Component Platform (Compute, Data Management, Messaging and Integration, etc.) Demonstrated development & implementation experience in building scalable Cloud Applications on Azure Demonstrated experience & Implementation of common design patterns for Cloud Based Applications Deep C# and .Net Development Experience in distributed computingDesign and development experience with REST APIsDesign and development experience with API Orchestration.Net / Azure Developer Job Summary:Technical leader with deep design and delivery experience for a portfolio of products of multi-tier SaaS products with web-based, plugin-based, and mobile-based clients on the Microsoft C#/.NET/SQL

Server technology stack. Expert at designing and implementing with 24/7 stability, performance, scalability, monitoring and localization requirements in mind. Is able to design, build, test complex frameworks, diagnose and resolve complex issues. Strong knowledge, development, and implementation experience of SOA Principles in relation to Services and Orchestration in Distributed Systems for the Enterprise. Great verbal, written, and presentation skills.Windows Azure development skills7+ Years of experience in .NETExcellent communication skills and pre-sales abilitiesASP.NET MVCTechnical leadership and team leadershipAbility to architect complex technical solutions including Cloud and Mobile

Demo – Azure / .Net Developer

How Do I Know a Career in SharePoint, Office 365 or Azure is Right for Me?

• You are open to committing a lot of your time to your career• You are open to always learning new technologies• You like to be analytical, work hard, work with people (or

pretend to at least – lol)• You can be highly detailed and learn computer skills

Creating a Career Plan

• Where are you at now?• What is your end goal?• What is your plan to get there?• What will your plan include:

• College courses• Online video training • Tutor• Books• User groups • In person training & conferences• Test environment to experiment in *IMPORTANT!

• Create a realistic timelines• How do you learn best? Immersion, reading, videos, etc. ?• What is going to make you stand out? (certifications,

examples of work)• Search job sites such as Dice.com, LinkedIn, Indeed and

others

17%

17%

6%

9%9%

33%

4%6%

VideoUser GroupsTutorLive Training - ConferencesCollegeJob - Real lifeOtherBooks

Sample Career Plan Components* This is a sample training plan for myself, create your own based on how you learn best.

Final Thoughts…

No one became an expert overnight

It is ok to reassess things as you go

Don’t get frustrated and quit

If you are not able to figure something out, make a note of it, move on to something else and when you find help ask questions

Feel free to email or contact me later if you need help

Feel free to connect:

@matthewjbailey1http://www.matthewjbailey.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjbailey1sharepointmatthew@gmail.com

Download my slides and get started at:http://www.matthewjbailey.com/speaking