Live sessions - Past

Catherine G. PFE

Premier Field Engineer Manager
US, Reston

I am a transactional Premier Field Engineering Manager for the Mid Atlantic region. There are several facets to my role but I am primarily a front-line people manager with a team of high performing support Engineers who deliver onsite technical support to our Premier Customers. From my very first day working in Microsoft Support center I learned to respect Microsoft’s firm commitment to providing quality technical support to their Premier customers. Since taking my first certification exam working at Microsoft became a ‘cool job’ kind of dream, but once I recognized Microsoft had such firm commitment and integrity to support the products they sell to their Customers increased my passion to become part of Microsoft. It is that passion, commitment and integrity that keeps me here today.

One of the reasons Microsoft is a fabulous place for women to work is because of the excellent benefits! In particular, as an employee with dependents the medical benefit is outstanding. There are also great benefits supporting health and fitness. The Premier Field Engineer essentially runs as an independent business and over the years I have been very impressed by the amount of flexibility that can be built into the Premier Field Engineering role.

Tatia C. TAM

Region: US
City/State: Charlotte, North Carolina
Primary Role: Technical Account Manager

As a Global Technical Account Manager, I am responsible for assisting customer(s) in maximizing their IT Health by embracing our technology; spanning nine countries (160,000 desktops). How is this achieved? Working closing with our customer to determine the current state of their IT Operations; diagnosing current IT Health by discussing customer pain points. Turning on the "Proactive Hat" and making sure each customer location is aligning proactive services with their IT Operation’s needs. We continue to work together and ensure the delivery of services is remediated, attaining their desired state (addressing the pain points) which maximizes their IT Health Operations. This band of delivery is referred to as Service Delivery Management.

Since I work with a global customer who has locations around the world, it also means time is spent in collaboration with other Microsoft Technical Account Managers so we can coordinate our efforts to support the customer Service Delivery Management global IT objectives. Helping customers embrace our technology, achieve IT Health along with working with Premier community, make for such a rewarding work experience.

Naomi A. Consultant

Region: USA
Country: USA
Primary Role: Consultant

Naomi J. Alpern currently works for Microsoft Consulting Services as a Senior Consultant specializing in Unified Communications and IT Architecture and Planning. In this position Naomi engages face to face with Microsoft business customers, assisting them in the successful planning and deployment of Microsoft products. Since the start of her technical career she has worked in many facets of the technology world, including IT administration, technical training, and, most recently, full-time consulting.

Naomi holds a Bachelor of Science in Leisure Services Management from Florida International University. Additionally she holds many Microsoft certifications, including an MCSE and MCT, as well as other industry certifications such as Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator, Security+, Network+, and A+.

Naomi lives in Charlotte, NC, where she spends her spare time along with her husband, Joey, chasing after their two young sons, Darien, 6 and Justin, 3. On the odd occasion that she runs into some alone time she enjoys curling up with a cheesy horror or mystery novel for company.

Yennifer S. PFE

Region: WE
Country: Portugal
Primary Role: Premier Field Engineer

I am a Premier Field Engineer and at the moment I have three external customers but usually I have more during the year. My role entails helping my customers with technological issues that they cannot resolve themselves. I also do a lot of proactive work, like workshops, risk assessments and performance reviews to help them to avoid some trouble that they could have in the future. I mainly work with financial customers. SQL Server is my specialty however sometimes my customers need help in other products which I am more than happy to help on but my focus is primarily on databases and business intelligence which is part of SQL Server product. Most of my time is spent at the customer sites. Sometimes I go to Microsoft to do some administrate work but that is not very often. Other part of my time is spent on training either technical or soft-skills and of course a lot of self-study due the fact that we need to be always ahead on the news about our products.

I joined Microsoft 3 years to go. I have always been especially interested in databases and when I saw the job opportunity I thought it would be extremely difficult to get the job. However I was successful and it made me realize that it is possible to join Microsoft if you believe in your capabilities. Sometimes we think that companies like Microsoft are out of our reach but unless you try you can never succeed. Since then I have found that during this time in regards to the technical perspective, Microsoft is always ahead so as someone with a technical background it is a great place to work.

Sibo M. Consultant

Region: MEA
Country: South Africa
Primary Role: Consultant


I believe that I have a chance through IT to make government better at the services they deliver to their citizens. It's our country. Our continent. I think I can use IT to solve the most present problems in South Africa.

In my role as a Consultant I work as an ITAP (IT Architecture and Planning Advisor). It is a consulting role that focuses on understanding what our clients need to do, what their challenges are, and then helping them solve those problems with a strategic approach to their IT architecture and technical planning. This is one of the best roles within MS because you have a certain level of freedom to implement tools and solutions to help people do what they need to do. You not only need technical skills and in depth knowledge of your industry, but you also must have the ability to engender trust in the people you work with so they trust you and believe you can help them.

In Africa there are many social challenges, economic challenges, and much poverty. My view is that solutions for Africans can come from the people within Africa - making it better ourselves. I think we have a chance through IT to put interventions in place which make government better at the services they deliver to their citizens. If we do our jobs properly – if we put in the right systems, take the right approaches, strategically assess how technology can be applied, then hey, we might just get it right.

Leeanne D. TAM

Region: EMEA
Country: United Kingdom
Primary Role: Technical Account Manager

Having completed my industrial placement at Microsoft, and then working for five years elsewhere in the IT industry, I jumped at the chance to return to Microsoft. It is a privilege working with such talented people and enjoying the opportunities available to develop my career. I now work as a Technical Account Manager based out of the U.K. office.

What I like about working at Microsoft Services is the group of people I work with, and the satisfaction gained in providing customers value from the Microsoft technologies they have invested in. I have achieved the right balance between progressing my career at Microsoft and giving my children the attention they deserve through a job share role, which my colleague and I have successfully proved works well both internally and for the customer we manage. I believe that if you take control of your own career then the opportunities will be available to you. Microsoft allows you to have these opportunities.
I am happily married with two girls aged 5 and 9 years. The balance of work and home life is always a challenge, however with the flexibility from both Microsoft and myself I manage to achieve my career goals and don’t miss out on any of my children’s memorable occasions.