SharePoint (and Project Server) Shenanigans

Just a quick note to say that I shall also be doing some blog post posts for Matt over at SharePoint 365, starting with this post.

I suspect the posts I do for SharePoint 365 will be more focused than this blog which tends to be a collection of my thoughts as I work through my projects on a daily basis.

URL: http://sp365.co.uk/2011/11/how-i-got-into-sharepoint-giles-hamson/

Details:

How long have you been using SharePoint?: 7 years

What’s your current role: Senior SharePoint Consultant / Information Architect at Corporate Project Solutions

Your Story:  Whilst working as a Technical Developer at Rentokil-Initial, I helped head quarters move from a Windows to a Linux based server environment (including custom developed modules on phpGroupware, Novell Groupwise and a number of other collaboration platforms).  Whilst completing the project an old colleague of mine put me in contact with a recruiter who was looking for a collaboration specialist with business analyst and technical skills  at Microsoft Business Solutions (now Microsoft Dynamics) in Reading, UK.

After learning .NET 1.0 for the role and taking a couple of exams I won the contract and was introduced to SharePoint Portal Server 2003 where I created a BI portal reporting on bugs in the Dynamics product set (Great Plains, Navision & Axapta) in pre-release versions of the products.

Excel Services wasn’t around at the time, so I used the Office Web Components as part of Microsoft Office 2003 to create graphs on the fly.

At the end of the contract I moved to a Microsoft Education Partner in Oxfordshire (European Electronique) where I created a learning platform based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Moodle (Virtual Learning Environment) and various other 3rd party products as part of the Academy and Building Schools for the Future programmes. 

After 3 years of implementing Virtual Learning Platforms I moved into specialising in SharePoint and Project Server with Corporate Project Solutions.

What’s next for you: Currently on a long term project which started in the SharePoint / Project Server 2010 public beta.  The system is now live to the proof of concept users and is in the process of being rolled out globally which is slated to end by mid next year.  In the meantime I am concentrating on Project Server certification and community efforts where I can.  Also hoping to be at the Project Conference 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona next March.