In Our Own Words: Alec

Business Group

SMS&P

Job Title

Group Manager, System Builders and Distribution

Location

Mississauga

Employee Profile and My Role

My name is Alec, and I am the Partner Group Manager for Microsoft Canada's System Builder and Distribution business. In my role, I am responsible leading a team of people responsible for our sales, marketing, license compliance and technical support efforts. We work with a lot of Microsoft partners in our business including our authorized and associate distributors and over 8,000 system builders! I have been at Microsoft for three years.

Work/Life Balance (Volunteering/Community Involvement)

When I joined Microsoft, I had the privilege of working with the Toronto Police, RCMP and other law enforcement agencies on the development of the Child Exploitation Tracking System. I was incredibly proud to work on that project and proud to be a Microsoft employee. Our commitment to get involved in the community, donate the necessary software and consulting time, and work with the police to help ensure global adoption of the solution was incredibly inspiring. The dedication of the law enforcement officers to protect our children and work so diligently to eradicate child exploitation made me proud to be a Canadian.

On the Job Making a Difference

My team works with over 8,000 system builder partners who provide technology to small businesses, government agencies, education institutions and consumers across the country. It is a great feeling to know that we are helping small partners help small businesses to realize their potential and provide opportunities for Canadians in big cities and little towns from BC to Newfoundland.

Reaching Your Potential (Professional Development)

Microsoft has been very good to me and provided me with lots of professional development opportunities. No matter what career path you choose at Microsoft you can be assured that you will find formal learning opportunities, informal opportunities to work on special projects, and the opportunity to move throughout the organization.

Microsoft is the only organization that I have worked for where I get a one-on-one with my manager once every two weeks to talk about the projects I am working on, help I need removing any roadblocks and my career development. I love taking on big challenges and at Microsoft I have found an opportunity to do that. In three years I have worked in our Enterprise Sales, Marketing and Small & Medium Solutions and Partners businesses.