VERY interesting Packet Pushers episode....

[NetworkGroover]

http://packetpushers.net/podcast/podcasts/show-268-bug-customer-vs-vendor-perspectives/

They interview a Cisco guy, who indirectly alludes that they release known bugs into the wild, and then the interviewers talk about Arista's Ken Duda's presentation on software quality, and the Cisco guy admits the architecture is a good way to go.... 

Listen to it from 20:50 to hear the specific part.  This guy gets fired in 3, 2, 1.....

[deanwebb]

Well... when I was at Microsoft, there were bugs that were showstoppers and bugs that would be fixed in the next service pack. Those little bitty bugs, yeah, they'll always be released. But we never, ever wanted to release code that had a major showstopper in it. Ever. We'd bash away at finding and fixing bugs in the beta code, but there was always one or two little things that slipped through the beta process and became an issue with that particular release.

As for getting fired... if he got clearance to do the podcast, he'll get an email from his manager explaining that someone higher up in marketing took offense. If he didn't get clearance, then he's in for a bumpy road and might not get the bonus he was expecting this year. In my time at Microsoft, I once made a post on a support forum that almost got me fired on three separate occasions (helluva post!), but my manager stuck by me and as long as I promised to stop posting on that forum, I got to keep my job.

Then there was the time a friend of mine and I did a spoof on how to get free beer at a Chik-fil-a that involved threatening staff with a firearm if verbal abuse proved insufficient... had I not edited out the Microsoft logos on his t-shirt, we'd-a both-a been fired. As it was, I had to delete the page and all reference to it. Pity, too, because I did some great photo editing in that one.

Then there was the time I got a cease and desist order from a major foodstuffs manufacturer, but that's not work-related...

[ChestHair]

Dean, you always have great stories. If I was closer to Texas I'd buy you a shot and a beer of your choice!

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

[Reggle]

... or Simon and I can lure you over to Belgium perhaps for a beer of choice.

[Nerm]

Oh sorry I am just here because I heard beer. lol.....I am now curious as to how good this forum post was if it threatened your job 3 different times.

[deanwebb]

OK, story time with deanwebb...

This was back in 2000, getting ready for the release of Exchange 2000. I worked as a Premier Support Engineer for MSFT at the time in the Client queue. My main support area was Outlook, scheduling, public folders, and IM stuff. I was active on the MS Exchange email support lists and had lots of good friends there. Still friends with a lot of those people even today. When I posted, though, I was told not to use my MSFT email account. Even better would be to not use my actual name, so that nobody would take any of my posts and say "Microsoft said this!!! I am holding them to it!!!"

So I chose "Great Cthulhu J. Jones" as my posting name. I figured if Cthulhu emigrated to the USA in the 1920s, the guys at Ellis Island wouldn't be able to pronounce his name and would just put him down as "Jones" for his surname. He ran R'lyeh Consulting, LLC. Folks who knew me were happy to play along and we had a ball.

Funny enough, there was a trainer at MSFT named CJ Jones, but he was cool with it.

Cthulhu Jones would always offer good support to questions from people that gave sufficient information in their questions. He would ask for more information from those that hadn't done enough homework. He would light up anyone that refused to do their own homework. And if anyone dared to throw rocks at the people who offered them support, Great Cthulhu would rip him apart. As a result, the Exchange support community was one of the liveliest places to be, as support forums went.

One thing that MSFT employees were forbidden to do was to reveal features of a beta product. That was a firing offense. Non-MSFT employees on the support list were talking about Exchange 2000 beta stuff and, in particular, how they hoped it would get rid of the horrible, horrible, horrible PST file. Some were happy when they heard of how MSFT was looking at using local SQL databases for email storage instead of the PST file. Great Cthulhu remained silent on the topic.

But when MSFT let it be known that it would drop local SQL databases, the prominent users did howl. Great Cthulhu then spoke - of his own mind - that, possibly, having thousands of SQL databases running around in a firm, replicating back and forth, might not have been all that desirable. Yes, one SQL database on a PC talking to the server, maintaining integrity, that could work just fine instead of a PST. But thousands? Over modem links for the remote users? Hmmm...

Now, none of these questions were raised as saying, "here's what the developers said," because I wasn't talking to anyone in dev. They just seemed like scalability issues that my buddies on the list hadn't considered. I hadn't discussed a feature of a beta product, just possible thoughts governing why or why not a feature would be considered for inclusion in a product. The list took those comments in stride, some still demanded the SQL storage feature, but the rest kinda simmered down and got back to supporting Exchange.

I attended MEC 2000 in Dallas and had a blast with all my friends there. I attended as an "ask the expert" from the community, and as soon as people found out I was Cthulhu Jones, I had a mob following me. I even facilitated the introduction of one of my friends to an interested suitor... they're still married today, living in SoCal. It was a Great Cthulhu Love Connection. Good times.

A few weeks after MEC, I got called into my manager's office. Someone in dev, a senior manager, had read that post and hit the roof. The dev guy took the opinion that I had discussed a beta feature and should be severely reprimanded. I explained that I had responded to some heat and provided some reasoning, not actual discussion of features. And, technically, we weren't really forbidden to discuss things that MSFT had said would *not* be features in beta products. I think that last bit of legalism is what saved me.

My manager accepted that and went to bat for me. I had a great support record, was an asset to the community, blah blah blah, so how could he reprimand a guy for doing nothing wrong? I lived on as a MSFT employee.

A month later, my manager called me in again. "What the hell are you thinking?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I got another beta team guy, a director no less, asking for your head. Are you still discussing beta stuff?"

"Hell no! I like working here!"

"Well, come into my office and let's sort this out."

Turns out, this director had been searching through forum posts, looking for stuff about Exchange 2000 beta, and had seen that one post I made about PST/SQL stuff. He blew his top, and fired off a zillion memos to everyone and his mom that this MSFT employee posting as "Cthulhu Jones" should be squirming naked on a cross in front of the main campus. Well, something like that. My manager shook his head at the over-sensitivity of this director and dashed off an email that the matter had already been handled... a month ago. That capped off that problem.

I was still popular on the support community, and got picked by all the Exchange support managers to be the employee from our location to go to represent MS Exchange support at Networld+Interop at Las Vegas. Yay me! I got another story to go with that... but I'll keep on with this story.

I get back from Vegas, and my manager asks me if I'm still talking about betas. He's grinning, so I know he's already scrolled down in the email to him and found that one post from months ago. I ask, "Who's this email asking for my head from this time?"

"A guy that reports directly to Ballmer."

I found that simultaneously terrifying and hilarious. The line between horror and comedy really is a very thin one. We both decided it was best that I stop posting altogether to the support lists before Steve Ballmer himself came down to fire me personally. So I did. I still responded to help request from my friends on other, private lists, but I didn't participate in a public Exchange list again as a MSFT employee.

And that's the story of the email that almost got me fired three different times.

[Nerm]

Did you immediately start to sweat when you heard "reports directly to Ballmer"? lol

[deanwebb]

Did you immediately start to sweat when you heard "reports directly to Ballmer"? lol

My heart did skip a beat or three, yes.

[AnthonyC]

Cool story Dean, made me wanting to know who was that director.

[icecream-guy]

Cool story Dean, made me wanting to know who was that director.

pick one

http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-senior-leaders/