2012: looking back

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Now that 2012 is in it's final hours, I wanted to look back professionally but also personally. It's the human thing to do [:)] (Fellow UC Architects Michel de Rooij and Micheal van Hoorenbeeck also made a retrospective)

What were the interesting technical events that happened in 2012?

Awesome events, especially MEC (fond memories!) and the start of the UC Architects podcast. These both helped me grow professionally. Interaction with peers I highly regard is something I value greatly. Both work-related highlights of the year. And what about the GA of Exchange 2013? Most of the availability of new versions of Exchange, Lync etc. will have more impact on 2013 than on 2012. For instance there is still no word on Exchange 2010 SP3 and the 2007 Rollup update, both necessary for a co-existence scenario (aka transition). Starting this year I had some personal goals, one of them posting one blog post a week on average, including a multipart post. And preparing for Exchange Master.

I've reached my blogging goal, with room to spare! That's 53 blog posts (54 with this one), short and long. Almost more posts in one year than I've posted since I started blogging in 2008. It might seem as if in setting this goal I was going for quantity rather than quality, but that was not my intent. My intent was for me to learn how to blog regularly and keep it fun. I didn't want it to become a chore. Some posts worked better than others and I'm more proud of some than of others, but with every post I've tried to communicate something interesting. I hope I've succeeded.

Some of the most popular post of 2012 were:

I've learned something new with almost every post. Working on a multipart post was a good learning experience, especially on the planning side. I'm not sure whether I want to keep up the same frequency next year, it is something that takes quite a bit of time, time which is a valuable commodity. Especially regarding my other goal:

Preparing for Exchange Master. This was a though one. I managed to get my certifications in order for the 2010 rotations, but psychologically I was still intimidated by it. Only by the end of the year did I start feeling ready for it. There won't be any 2010 rotations anymore, so now I've been preparing for the 2013 program. Goal not really reached, but as it is something you shouldn't take on lightly I'm not that sad about it. However, this will be an important goal in 2013!

One other important announcement was that my company decided to migrate from Zarafa Groupware to Exchange Server 2013. I will be the architect on this migration and it will be an interesting experience. I hope to blog extensively about my experiences during this migration.

I want to thank everyone who read, commented, retweeted my tweets and blogs, helped me with technical issues and/or questions and provided me with ideas for blog posts. But a special thanks goes to my wife, who supported and supports me and for sacrificing time with me. <3

Here's to an awesome 2013!

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