Sr. ConfigMgr Engineer at Microsoft
Greater Seattle Area
- Current
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- Sr. ConfigMgr / SMS Engineer (Systems Engineer) at Microsoft
- Past
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- Sr. Integration Specialist at Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Principal at New Barbarian Technologies (Self-employed)
- System Manager at Ontario Ministry of Education
- Application Programmer/Analyst at MDS Health Group
- System Manager at hospitals in British Columbia (Shaughnessy and Royal Columbian)
- Education
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- The University of British Columbia
- various
- Connections
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110
connections
- Industry
- Computer Software
- Websites
Paul Thomsen’s Summary
Since 1995 I've specialized in Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), now called System Center Configuration Management (ConfigMgr or SCCM). I've served Microsoft, SMS customers, and the community in a variety of roles, including engineering, administration, technical writing, presentations, and training.
Prior to that I was an OpenVMS (as in VAX/VMS) system manager and a programmer (Basic and MUMPS, primarily for line-of-business applications). I have also supported a variety of other technologies, including TCP/IP, PATHWORKS, and IBM System/34's.
Paul Thomsen’s Specialties:
technical analysis, troubleshooting, training, technical writing, presentations, scripting, programming, project planning and leadership, program management
Paul Thomsen’s Experience
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Sr. ConfigMgr / SMS Engineer (Systems Engineer)
Microsoft
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)
February 1999 — Present (9 years 9 months)
- Using SMS at production standards in Microsoft as part of Microsoft IT (250,000+ clients), including as patch mgmt service lead
- Testing (dogfooding) SMS 2003 and ConfigMgr 2007 prior to release at large scales
- Customer liaison (conference presentations, webcasts, blogging, 1-on-1 meetings and e-mails, community support, etc.)
- Helping to build a Software-as-a-Service implementation of ConfigMgr for external customers
- 2 trips to Hyderabad, India
Actually, the first 3.5 years were as a technical writer on the SMS product team, and included customer liaison work as well. The writing included various SMS 2.0 technical papers (e.g. SMS Security Essentials) and many SMS 2003 core documentation chapters. -
Sr. Integration Specialist
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
(Government Agency; 1001-5000 employees; Government Administration industry)
April 1993 — February 1999 (5 years 11 months)
integrated a variety of computer technologies into existing production systems and business processes. This included SMS 1.x, beta testing SMS 2.0, and PATHWORKS (PC to minicomputer networking).
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Principal
New Barbarian Technologies (Self-employed)
(Self-Employed; 1-10 employees; Writing and Editing industry)
December 1994 — February 1999 (4 years 3 months)
Computer magazine and book technical writing and editing, training, and presentations at conferences. Mostly on SMS 1.x, but also programming, networking, and operating systems (OpenVMS, Windows, and UNIX). Most of the training was done in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur.
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System Manager
Ontario Ministry of Education
(Government Agency; 51-200 employees; Education Management industry)
April 1990 — April 1993 (3 years 1 month)
VAX/VMS system management, LAN support, PC support, etc.
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Application Programmer/Analyst
MDS Health Group
(Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Hospital & Health Care industry)
December 1988 — April 1990 (1 year 5 months)
programming production medical laboratory systems in MUMPS, and some VAX/VMS system management
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System Manager
hospitals in British Columbia (Shaughnessy and Royal Columbian)
(Government Agency; 501-1000 employees; Hospital & Health Care industry)
December 1983 — May 1988 (4 years 6 months)
VAX/VMS system management, and programming in VAX Basic (LOB apps and system utilities)
Paul Thomsen’s Education
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The University of British Columbia
Computer Science 1979 — 1981
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various
computer technologies
- Activities and Societies:
- a wide variety of courses on various technologies (IT systems, programming, training, presentations, operating systems, VMS (OpenVMS), etc.)
Additional Information
Paul Thomsen’s Websites:
Paul Thomsen’s Interests:
mountaineering (hiking, climbing, snowshoeing, backpacking, skiing), bicycling, dogs, house maintenance, computer technology, economics, world affairs, philosophy
Paul Thomsen’s Groups:
Mountaineers (www.mountaineers.org),
myITForum, SMS, SCCM, ConfigMgr
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myITforum.com -
SCCM Professionals -
Microsoft Association -
Microsoft System Center Administrators -
System Center Virtual User Group -
Microsoft - Current and Former Employees -
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager -
Microsoft-IT
Paul Thomsen’s Honors:
Speaker at all 11 Microsoft Management Summit conferences (well, the conferences in that series). Also at complementary conferences in Europe and competing conferences in North America
Columnist at BackOffice Magazine for 3 years (1996 to 1999).
Paul Thomsen’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
