My journey with SQL Server

Today is a special day for me as the news came out last night. And I thank SQL Server Geeks for providing such a great platform. This has encouraged me to write blogs, speak at the in-person events. The enthusiasm continues with the news like below.

SQL Server Geeks is made up of great people with their passion towards the great product. They are always ready to share their knowledge and make the SQL community bigger and wider. Thank you all who are the part of this great community. And special thanks to the core team and Amit Bansal for making SQL Server Geeks such a great platform.

My journey with SQL Server

In this post I wanted to tell the tale of my journey with SQL Server and thank every individual who helped me to be what I am today. In 2007 August I got placed in a company when I was in college. When I completed college I was lucky enough to join Sierra Atlantic before my results were out. I, Aditya Badramraju and Kanchan Bharati were invited to join for an immediate requirement to start a new SQL DBA team. Thanks to Sreedhar Kantae for selecting us. He was a great manager and his first words when we joined were “Love your job. Not your company.” Companies give you opportunities but as long as you love your job and respect it opportunities keep coming.

After two years of learning SQL Server with great exposure and freedom to learn what we want my journey ended with Sierra Atlantic. I thank my next manager in Sierra Atlantic, Chiranjeevi Galla. The SQL guru who thought us most basics of SQL Server, Ragesh Gadeela and our mentor, Phaneendra Annadanam. And even though we worked together for a short time Sudiendra Suddautam was the one who thought us how to work in a corporate world.

In 2010 December I quitted Sierra Atlantic and in 2011 January I joined the dream company for almost every SQL enthusiast. Yes, I joined Microsoft GTSC. This division is well known as PSS team, CSS team, CAT team, etc. to the outside world. After working 2 years I got almost two months training on SQL Server core concepts in Microsoft. I was amazed to know that I hardly knew anything about SLQ Server till then. It’s a whole new level of troubleshooting at Microsoft. My journey was very short with Microsoft. I would thank all the great heads at MS and special thanks to my technical lead, Pradeep M M and team manager Pranav Soral.

I left Microsoft in Oct 2011 and joined Arthur J Gallagher. AJG was my client when I was working with Sierra Atlantic. I was hired to start up a new team to do what we were doing in Sierra Atlantic. I got married after I joined this company. It was great working for this company. I got to explore the ETL and DW world here. Their systems handle large insurance data and very time critical. I learnt a lot on automation, monitoring and applied my MS knowledge in their Data Centre migration project. Again it would not have been a great work if it was not for my manager Ananda Kumar. I also would like to thank Ram Bheemarasetti, Vijay Balan and Philip Irby for creating such a wonderful working culture around.

Since last two years from Dec 2012 I am working for S&P Capital IQ. My current employer and a great knowledge center. I felt the knowledge bank here in my interview. The best minds on SQL Server and other data and storage technologies are here. I enjoy working with great minds like Lakshmana Kothapalli, AdithyaKalyan Sundaragiri, Saradhi Yelmella and many more. If I list out all names it would be a book to read. And I enjoy working with my dear friend and an SQL freak Aditya Badramraju. He and I started our career at Sierra Atlantic learnt a lot on different paths and now working together at S&P Capital IQ.

The big part of my journey is when I got introduced to SQL Server Geeks. I was with AJG and met Sarabpreet for the first time at the September 2012 SQL Server Day event. I conveyed my interest in blogging. I got my blog space in January 2013 and started blogging with SQLServerGeeks since then. Rest of the story can be found in my last post. Today I am what I am due to the help and encouragement of all the people I have met through my career. And a SPECIAL THANKS to the SQL community.

And a last snippet for the post. I got to spend a day with Amit Bansal on 4th October. We attanded the Bob Wards event of SQL Talks together. Later in the evening we had high tea and evening snacks at his place. Thanks to the wonderful host, Amit Bansal and family.

Amit Bansal