Seasons of change: new Product Manager for PowerWF™ and PowerSE at Devfarm Software

Posted on by Kirk Munro

I always enjoy this time of year.  There is something about the transition that happens over Labour Day weekend that always gets me excited.  Maybe it’s a lingering feeling of anticipation over the new year at school or university from years gone by, a feeling that I can still appreciate these days as I watch my kids getting excited about their education and the new activities they will sign up for this fall.  Regardless, it’s always a fun time of year for me.

This year though I have some extra reasons of my own to be even more excited.  As of this morning, I am now working as Product Manager for the PowerWF and PowerSE products at Devfarm Software!  I am absolutely thrilled about this new position!  Devfarm has a great team and a great set of products, and I’m really happy to be able to help them drive those products forward.

With this news, today marks the end of a month that included some vacation time, some time to step back and refocus, and some time for reflection on what to do next.  During this time I received a ton of support from friends and followers in the PowerShell community, and for that I am very grateful.  This support helped one particular sentiment that I came across stay with me:

You know for a (while) I (wondered if) going back to the amazing experience of (PowerShell) wouldn’t be a good idea, but really now I’ve come completely around because (software can be) stressful and hard to make but ultimately what makes (it) fun is the people that you work with, and the fact that (I’m) going to be working with a lot of the old gang, with a lot of friends, and obviously making some new friends is really the point of being here, so I’m extremely thrilled.1

This really represents how I have felt since my departure from my last job as Product Manager for PowerGUI.  I really love PowerShell as a technology, but as great as that technology is, it just wouldn’t be the same without the community that surrounds it.  PowerShell is blessed to have a tremendous community, and I am very, very proud to be able to continue to participate in that same community as a Product Manager for some really cool products that use PowerShell, as a PowerShell MVP, and as a geek who fell in love with technology a long time ago.

Now that I’ve found my new direction and focus, it’s time to get down to business.  Whether you’re a current user of PowerWF or PowerSE or someone who is interested in trying PowerWF or PowerSE, I’d love to connect with you to hear what you like (or don’t like) about these products as well as what you would like to see added to them in the future.  Feel free to reach out to me at any time either in my blog comments or by using the Contact Me form on my blog.  I’m really looking forward to working with you.

Kirk out.

1 Paraphrased from Peter Jackson’s speech on the first day of filming for “The Hobbit”; his exact speech can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqzJ1LFh6x0&hd=1&t=9m15s.

15 thoughts on “Seasons of change: new Product Manager for PowerWF™ and PowerSE at Devfarm Software”

  8. You asked about what we would like to see. One thing that came to my mind instantly was an old request to PowerGUI that I also mentioned already towards PowerSE. Complete Intellisense support for (all!) providers would be a killer feature for a PowerShell editor.

    I think that one of PowerWF/PowerSE’s goals should be to allow non tech people to create automation workflows, also writing script fragments. So, every helper that makes it easier to achieve this is appreciated.

  11. I’d like to see with no patience what you’ll be able to do with PowerSE, Kirk. After PowerGUI development eventually stops, Script Editor will be a strong competitor providing the mature and stable platform for working on scripts and writing add-ons.
    I hope that our PowerShellers’ world is awaiting great new features in the battle for PowerGUI’s niche. 🙂

  13. Hi Kirk

    This is amazing news and I agree that the PowerSE people are so lucky to have you on board. I have been using PowerSE for a while now and aside from a few niggles that I’m sure you will have sorted out in no time I have grown to really like it.

    The real winners here are the Powershell community as we get PowerSE being driven by the guy who made PowerGUI great.

    Now, in the name of all thats holy:-

    — Drop the 60 day re-install/re-register nonsense -just charge me $25 or something up front.
    — Introduce colouring themes.
    — Sort out the unwanted variable expansions and inconsistencies.
    — Don’t even think about adding a flash based front page!

    Do that with the usual Kirk style and you will have a killer product right there.

    So happy for you and so happy for me that you are now working on the product I have been using so much. Now I don’t need to feel guilty about not reaching for PowerGUI for my quick and dirty hack ups.

    -Stuart

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