It is 8 years since I left Microsoft and another friend left as well. He made the move in 2006 to this small group who you could fit around a few tables in the cafeteria. The idea this group had was to change how IT consumed resources. The group my friend joined is called Amazon Web Services. After 8 years he has retired.

My background is broad. While I have a business degree (BBA - Finance), and experience founding and running successful businesses, my professional experience over the past number of years has been as a technologist -- with experience that ranges from managing teams at Microsoft to writing code to being part of Amazon Web Services since the early days of Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing is amazing. It proves that a small group of driven people with a vision can change the world. No one would have said just a few years ago that organizations are open to running mission-critical applications “in the cloud”. Fast forward to today, and that’s the conversation on the table.

Currently I am attempting to be retired.

Now that my friend is retired I know he’ll be at home more, and he still lives only 2 miles from me.

The Cloud has come a long way in 8 years, and my friend has deserved to take a break and enjoy retirement.

How many people do you know have spent 8 years working on the Cloud?