New PFE-Senior I probably or just PFE

I need some guidance.  My manager is asking me to show more value on my project.  My customer
has moved just about 100% to the cloud.  As an EXSPSKOnPREM PFE what could I be looking for or
suggesting to my customer to show my value?

Principal Consultant To Level 66 architect

I have a newer Microsoft employee that I help unofficially mentor. EXSPSKOnPREM PFE.  On a leading
365 project in the DOD space. 
XX PFEs etc on account.

  His manager has told him he must show more value at his account now that 365 migration is
complete

This got me to thinking what would senior architect say?

My first thought was that the manager has a set of nuts to tell a guy whose job is taken away by his
own company that he must show now show more value. 

What is value? Is value a contractual item? Contractually he is an EXSPSKOnPREM PFE.  In my mind

that is what he gets paid for.

What is value? I believe the customer -the tech team and the managerial team must provide this
answer with Microsoft documenting this response, value can be holistic but also broken down by role
and or individual.

How do xx on prem PFEs now suddenly provide more value in 0365. Why did the manager, account
team at customer, and individual not had this discussion either before the project kicked off or
halfway thru? 

Level 66 Architect-

See, now, this is the big thing with O365 – if you hang your hat (which both of us have) on that whole
on-prem EXSPSKOnPREM, how do you transform to have impact moving forward with O365?  It is
not an easy question.

With that said, a few ideas that can be discussed.

First, there is still need of EXSPSKOnPREM PFE *type* of support.  There is a lot of EXSPSKOnPREM
management that needs to be done in O365.  You can’t do things like move mailboxes around, or
take databases online or offline or stuff that could affect other tenants, but there is a lot that needs to
be understood about how EXSPSKOnPREM works in O365, how mail flows through the overall system
(what is on-prem?), how various clients connect (traditional Windows-based Outlook, mobile clients
through EAS or some MDM solution, OWA, Outlook on other clients like iOS or Android…).  LOTS of
things.  BUT, you would have to define what you’re doing here and how you’re showing that impact
that must be shown.  First and foremost, as a PFE, having a technical impact at your customer is really
the most important thing you can do.

Second, the PFE could take on things like “How do we do all those things I said above and apply that
to Skype for Business Online as well?  How about SharePoint Online support?  What about Identity
Management?  That is HUGE in O365”  This is taking on more breadth of technology support.  Not
easy, but this could differentiate you from “the next guy”, if you will.  Growth to other technologies, or
transformation of the technical base that the PFE works from, not being “just” an EXSPSKOnPREM
PFE…  This is not an easy thing to accept sometimes.  Trust me, after so many years of pushing myself
to be the best of the best of EXSPSKOnPREM consulting, I’m now in a place where I haven’t installed
EXSPSKOnPREM in, oh, 4 years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I had to ask for help to get
EXSPSKOnPREM moving email between systems.  There is so much that I just don’t know any more,
because I’m required to be “100 level, *maybe* 200 level” on any and all technologies rather than
being 400 level on most of EXSPSKOnPREM…  It is a hard pill to swallow when you have to make
those changes, but the field is changing and if you can’t make those changes, you might get left
behind.

The third thing to think about is that you have to define your impact that you are going to make,
ensure that your boss agrees that your impact that you plan to make is really impact that he/she can
sell when talking about what you’ve done, and document that in your Connect.  This applies to your
technical space (how are you going to continue to grow?  You have to document that!) and to your
other business impact statements (mentoring?  Taking on new things for the business-like leadership
in Azure learning or something like that…).  BUT, if you pick something, document it, and move
forward with the ASSUMPTION that your boss is going to think that this is something he/she can sell
during review time, you are making a mistake.  You need to make sure that the impact you want to
make is sellable.  That others in the business agree that this is something that you should be doing. 
That if you need impact across the practice or the region or the domain or worldwide or whatever the
requirement is, that what you choose to hang your hat on and commit to in your Connect is
something that your boss can and will be able to sell and support during reviews.

What I’m going to do, and what you’re going to do, and what this PFE is going to do are all three
different things.  Remember that “enabling others to excel” is something that is HUGE.  For instance,
at one point, I took on making sure that my peers had all the support I could provide to get them
through their TQA certifications so that they could hit their commitment of doing 4 TQAs per year. 
The way I did that was make sure that they knew (and our boss knew that I had told them) that there
was training upcoming that they could get in, and then mentoring / shadowing them through the two
(or making sure they had a shadow) TQAs they needed so that they could then do the other 2 they
needed that year by themselves.  Simple – and I got hours for each and every minute I spent
mentoring / shadowing, so all I did “out of hide” was send a few emails about the training, and make
sure they signed up.  Maybe 2 hours total for a year out of hide, and I enabled others to meet their
commitments – that is impact with huge payback for me, with very little “additional” effort on my
part.  That’s the trick – find a way to do these things within the scope of what you are already doing. 
Sometimes you can’t do that, but don’t commit to hundreds of un-paid hours.  It is a balancing act to
find what you can do, and I can’t really tell you “what you can do” to make that impact. Does that
make sense”

Principal Consultant

“It does but I think the manager and account team also must be accountable, I think we do a poor job
here. I believe value and impact are used a bit differently at a customer versus inside.  Value is
monetary value and well as technical value to the customer, they want their money’s worth.
Microsoft does as well but we use the word impact-a lot.  Its easy to see how some new employee
could get confused. Customer could pay a lot less from any partner for a 200 level employee instead
of multiple PFEs

Level 66 architect

While I agree, and I think that a GOOD manager wouldn’t just hang someone out to dry, I also think
that we’re all big boys and girls, and Microsoft has always said “you own your own career”.  You have
to take control.  You can’t let this happen to you.  You will survive if and only if you don’t let it happen
to you.

That is certainly not the “everyone gets a trophy” attitude some people expect, but I never liked that
attitude, myself.  I think that if you make sure you aren’t left behind, that you stay on top of it and are
aware when you are being hung out to dry, you can make sure you can be successful.  It really is up
to you.

I do think that as mentors, part of what we need to do, though, is help these people understand how
to stay on top of their career.  Should the manager be doing that as well?  Yes.  But, then again, no
everyone is (or has) a good manager.  It is unfortunate, but how can all managers be good when you
know that all consultants aren’t good?  ;*)

FROM a Peer PFE

“My take on what the PFE was told is they should demonstrate the reasons why the customer needs
to keep them now that they now longer will be doing their primary daily task of break fix (I.E.
Reactive). In other words, the PFE needs to switch gears to Proactive and explore all the proactive
offerings they could produce/deliver.
If I were them I would start by getting together with the TAM and reviewing the service catalog of
available offerings to determine which ones I could offer to the customer such as chalk talks,
workshops, etc… I would also try to think of some related solutions I could offer such as PowerShell
training.

I would also start reviewing new features and functionality of Office 365 that the customer isn’t taking
advantage of that they could be, and then start trying to proactively drive them towards those
technologies (again through chalk talks, trainings, etc…). For example, are they using Modern Groups
and/or Teams? If not start pushing them down those technology paths.

I also wouldn’t count on all reactive issues stopping because I hear EXSPSKOnPREM PFE’s bringing up
issues at large Office 365 customers all the time, although being 100% converted means they will be
service only issues (versus co-existence).

At the end of the day the person needs to ask themselves what impact are they having at the
customer/for the customer by continuing to be an EXSPSKOnPREM PFE for them.”