This talk will cover how Microsoft develops, releases, and supports SQL Server (an approximately $3.5 Billion/year product).  There are unique challenges to running a software group at the scale of > 1000 people, though many of the challenges are very similar to smaller organizations as well.  The talk will cover:

• An overview of the SQL Server product (to see the components)

• How Microsoft organizes its people by roles (Developers, Testers, Program Managers, etc.)

• The engineering model we use (developed in-house)

• How individual projects run in our engineering model

• Project Management Techniques (various Agile Methods) that work in large organization engineering

• Offshoring portions of a product

• Testing and Automation

• Software Process Management + Communicating with Management

About the Speaker:  

Conor Cunningham has worked at Microsoft for well over a decade.  His primary interests are building database engines, query processors, and specifically query optimizers.  He also works in distributed systems, algorithms, and in business process management/efficiency strategies. Conor also has worked at Lombardi in Austin (now part of IBM) on Business Process Management (BPM) solutions.  Conor has run software projects using a variety of methods from Waterfall to SCRUM/various Agile methods. 

Conor blogs about SQL Server Queries on a blog called “Conor vs. SQL.”  He is the author of a number of peer-reviewed academic papers, has authored more than 10 patent disclosures on database engine design, and wrote a chapter for the book “SQL Server 2008 Internals” on how the SQL Server Query Optimizer works.  He lives with his family in Austin, TX.