Editors Note:  Over the next couple weeks as we ramp up to setting sail to the wilds of Alaska on board the Norwegian Pearl for SQL Cruise Alaska we’ll be taking time to interview some of those who will be joining us.  First up is the ever-entertaining, ever-engaging, effervescent Buck Woody.

TF:  Buck, thank you for joining us on SQL Cruise Alaska.  Can you tell us a little about what you’re looking forward to on the cruise?

BW:   I’ve not been on one before, and I’m really looking forward to deeper, more one-to-one feel of the presentations. Nothing motivates a teacher more than a motivated learner.

TF:  Agreed.  Brent and I started SQL Cruise precisely for that reason.  You can tailor your presentation to the smaller group of Cruisers and make it much more valuable than if you were presenting to a larger group.  We also are able to take time – months in some cases – to get to know our Cruisers so we can get an idea of what they are looking to get out of the experience. 

TF:  What do you plan on presenting while on the cruise?

BW:   I’m doing two presentations. One is on strategies for improving your technical Career, and the other on Communications. I say this with all seriousness – I really think these two presentations could change someone’s life. I use these tactics and strategies all the time, and they have served me well. I’m thrilled to be able to share them.

TF:  Yes, I’ve been seeing the emails and homework assignments for the Cruisers in preparation for your sessions.  Having taken the Strengths Finder test you requested I know I’ll be right there on the edge of my seat with the rest of the Cruisers to get a better understanding of my test results as well.
 

TF:  Can you give us some insight on what you’ve been up to lately at Microsoft?

BW:   Quite a bit, actually. I moved from the SQL Server team to the Windows Azure and SQL Azure team – what we call “Distributed Computing”, or the cloud. Really excited to be working in this space.
 

 TF:   I know you’re bringing along your wife and daughter on the cruise.  Are you planning on going on any excursions while on SQL Cruise Alaska?

BW:   I haven’t checked what my wife will schedule yet. She’s normally in charge of fun things, I’m the work guy. J

TF:  What do you think of the recent growth of specialty SQL Server training events.  We’re proud to have ushered in other events along the lines of what we’ve put together here and I wonder, as someone who works for Microsoft what you think of these events? 

BW:   They are amazing. One thing I am finding is that the developer world is much larger – and more fragmented – than the SQL Server world. As such, the SQL Server community really has a fantastic setup, and I think it’s one we should replicate wherever we can.

TF:  You’ve had your head in the cloud as of late.  What do you find so attractive about Azure?

BW:   It’s really the mainframe “done right”. Of course, the mainframe is also making a great comeback, but a distributed computing paradigm, where you allow developers to focus on code (PaaS) is one of the most revolutionary turning points in computing history, I believe. It’s really that big a deal. It’s not just virtualization – that still requires someone to manage and monitor the servers, and developers and architects aren’t interested in that. They want a highly scalable system they can code against, where they pay for what they use. And that’s Azure.

TF:  Should DBAs fear for their jobs because of what lays ahead in the cloud?

BW:   Not at all. We used to worry about disk packs, then hard drives, then SANs. All of that is now handled by someone else, in effect, it’s a service we get. So the work will just move from tuning hardware to effective design and new data strategies. I actually think it’s an exciting time to be a data professional.

TF:  Everyone wants to know… what does a Buck Woody do when he’s switched off by the staff in his lab at night?

BW:   I’m normally plugged into a caffeine outlet for recharging.

TF:  You’re speaking on Professional Development topics on SQL Cruise Alaska.  What single suggestion would you make for anyone in our line of work to either advance their career or make it more fulfilling?

BW:   Learn relentlessly.

TF:  I could not think of a better way to finish this interview Buck.  Thank you for taking the time to join us on the SQL Cruise and the time to chat with me today!  See you in a couple weeks in beautiful Seattle.

Buck Woody (blog | twitter) is a Senior Technical Specialist for Microsoft, working with enterprise-level clients to develop computing platform architecture solutions within their organizations.  With over twenty-five years professional and practical experience in computing technology, he is also a popular speaker at Tech-Ed, PASS and many other conferences; the author of over 500 articles and five books on databases; and teaches a Database Design course at the University of Washington.