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Sonia Cuff – IT Origins

April 12, 2018 by Rich Stroffolino Leave a Comment

This is post 22 of 41 in the series “IT Origins”

  1. Phil Gervasi – IT Origins
  2. Nicholas Russo – IT Origins
  3. James Green – IT Origins
  4. Russ White – IT Origins
  5. Chin-Fah Heoh – IT Origins
  6. Eyvonne Sharp – IT Origins
  7. Howard Marks – IT Origins
  8. Tom Hollingsworth – IT Origins
  9. Allison Sheridan – IT Origins
  10. Gina Minks – IT Origins
  11. Enrico Signoretti – IT Origins
  12. Rebecca Fitzhugh – IT Origins
  13. Matt Leib – IT Origins
  14. Jack Daniel – IT Origins
  15. Tom Lyon – IT Origins
  16. Nick Bowie – IT Origins
  17. Dong Ngo – IT Origins
  18. Jordan Martin – IT Origins
  19. Zachary Smith – IT Origins
  20. Chandra Ambadipudi – IT Origins
  21. Karen Lopez – IT Origins
  22. Sonia Cuff – IT Origins
  23. Trends – IT Origins Survey
  24. Dan Frith – IT Origins
  25. Thom Greene – IT Origins
  26. David Bermingham – IT Origins
  27. Patric Palm – IT Origins
  28. Jon Hildebrand – IT Origins
  29. Ted Dunning – IT Origins
  30. Theresa Miller – IT Origins
  31. Oksana Sokolovsky – IT Origins
  32. John Welsh – IT Origins
  33. Leon Adato – IT Origins
  34. Alastair Cooke – IT Origins
  35. Michelle Laverick – IT Origins
  36. Nick Janetakis – IT Origins
  37. Tomer Shiran – IT Origins
  38. Phoummala Schmitt – IT Origins
  39. Tom Hollingsworth – IT Origins
  40. Becky Elliott – IT Origins
  41. Stephane Charbonneau – IT Origins

IT Origins is an interview series looking at how IT professionals got their start working in their field and how it’s changed since then.

Stephane Charbonneau – IT Origins

Becky Elliott – IT Origins

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Sonia Cuff is a Technology Consultant, Speaker, and Microsoft MVP. 

You can follow her on her blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

What’s your IT origin story? How long have you been in the field?

I started working in a bank as an 18 year old, fresh out of high school. We had a ton of problems with a DOS-based sales reporting program (running on a 386 PC) & I was the one on the phone to Level 2 support. They noticed that I could understand what they were talking about & asked if I’d ever thought of joining IT – they had a project coming up to roll out new PCs nationwide. And the rest, as they say, is history .. over 20 years of history in fact!

What’s been the biggest change in IT since you started your career?

The biggest change has been what the Internet has enabled IT Pros to do, and the threats it has introduced because of what our users can now do!

Current worst trend in IT?

Adding new collaboration tools, thinking that will solve our problems.

Current best trend in IT?

Automation – the more we can improve the delivery of the easy stuff, the better.

How do you approach organization at work? What are your must use apps? How do you approach organization? What’s your ideal workspace?

I’ve been away and really missed my L shaped desk and 3 monitors, including one in portrait! Juggling everything involves my Inbox, subfolders for current events & projects, Planner inside Microsoft Teams as placeholder reminders and my calendar (all on Office 365). I’d also be lost without OneNote, which has everything from event notes to ideas for blogs and Pluralsight courses.

Book recommendations for other IT pros (besides The Phoenix Project?). What are you reading now?

Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella – a great look at the turnaround in Microsoft’s culture. And because I can’t do non-fiction before I sleep. I’m reading Mark Russinovich’s novel Zero Day. So far I have mixed feelings about it.

First computer you owned.

Amstrad CPC6128

What do you do when you’re not working in IT?

I’m a volunteer and trainer with the Queensland State Emergency Service. I teach people how to repair roofs, use UHF radios and look for missing people or evidence (supporting our Police). At home. I’ll be cooking, or watching Netflix with my daughters.

How do you caffeine?

A small flat white on freshly ground Full Throttle beans made at home on my Sunbeam Café Series machine, after dropping the kids off to school, then another one late morning. English breakfast tea the rest of the day and decaffeinated tea after dinner. Quality, not quantity.

Who do you want to see answer these questions?

Theresa Miller

Best career advice you’ve received.

Change what you can and don’t stress about what you can’t change. Pretty good life advice too.

  • About the Author
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About Rich Stroffolino

Rich has been a tech enthusiast since he first used the speech simulator on a Magnavox Odyssey². Current areas of interest include ZFS, the false hopes of memristors, and the oral history of Transmeta.
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Filed Under: Exclusives, Featured Tagged With: @Cuff_S, @satyanadella ?, Automation, Microsoft, Office365

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