Microsoft GTEC's 10 Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday to GTEC (Microsoft Global Technical Engineering Center)! It is the 10th anniversary today. It is the first organization I have worked with, and feel strongest connection with this organization, with friends there, and the culture there.

10 years ago, Jun started a technical support center (a small team to be more exactly) in Shanghai. After that, it got many different names.

At the very beginning, it was called “Microsoft Great China Technical Support Center”, or GCRSC.

I joined the center at the end of 1998 (to be more exactly, I attended the campus recruiting on Dec 4, and got the offer one week later, then first work from Jan 18, 1999). At that time, there are only 50+ people there, and it is at the beginning of early expansion. I still remember the full house of the campus recruiting, and 4000+ students attended the written test, and 50 of them was interviewed, and I was the final lucky guy, who is the only person hired by Microsoft that year. I even cannot believe how lucky I was. As I told people, I have the confidence to be in 20% of the candidates, but never imagined I can got the single opportunity out of the 4000+ written test candidate. Then my email always starts with “Thank you for contacting Microsoft Greater China Regional Support Center”.

After that, it was renamed AREC (Microsoft Asia Regional Engineering Center), after it expanded the business scope from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to the whole Asia. Among the countries we support, Korea and India are notable. I started to talk with customers from the whole Asia.

Then, it was renamed again, as Microsoft Global Technical Engineering Center, when the online support business for both Office, and Windows was shifted to China. Following the consumer end product, developer support, and premium support from U.S. and Europe were also shifted to the center. It is really a global center there. It was then when I left the center for Microsoft Consulting Services, and then joined eBay to start Kijiji.

Now, it is renamed again as Microsoft Global Technical Support Center (GTSC).

I am with this center for more than 6 years, and many of my friends are there for 10 years. It is the biggest source of inspiration for me. It is where my career starts. I feel very grateful for the organization, and Jun, who started it and led it.

Today, we held a small celebrating party with Jun and many old GTEC people. We then had dinner together - a really big table.

Here are some pictures I got from my computer disk:

My desk of my cubicle in 2001.

My badge.

The badge in Metro Tower office building:

One version of my name card in Microsoft.

Me at that time - 2002