People profile : Technical Support Engineer

Name: Brian Donahue

Education: Associate in Applied Science, Information Technology, Community College of the Air Force, Gunter Alabama

Position at Red Gate: Technical Support Engineer

Start date: 22 November, 2002

First job ever: Like most young people, I worked at a fast food restaurant. It was no dream job, but I made a few friends there, some of them I still talk to. Far and above my favourite experience there was making biscuits from scratch – too bad that I had to get up at 5AM on a Saturday or Sunday morning to have this privilege!

Before you arrived at Red Gate what did you do?

I came to Red Gate shortly after separating from the US Air Force as a noncommissioned officer. I was the shift leader of the help desk at an RAF installation, in addition to other interesting activities such as survival training and deploying to far-flung places around the world.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

This job is the most technically challenging I've ever had. It starts with reaching an understanding with another person about a problem that they're trying to solve, then analyzing possible causes of the problem and then formulating a workaround or suggesting ways that our software can be enhanced to meet their needs. This is compounded by some pressure to deliver the goods in a timely manner – it's expected that I can pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat and quite often I do.

What do you need to be a Technical Support Engineer?

There are a few soft skills that are a premium, mainly the ability to listen and understand what you're being asked to help with. To keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, as the saying goes. There are also the prerequisite hard-core technical skills to maintain. A lot of our customers are software developers on the cutting-edge of computer science and we are expected to understand their problems and fulfill their need for solutions and tools that will help them innovate.

Why did you choose Red Gate?

I chose Red Gate because of the family atmosphere. All of us have been really close and I think that the management has bent over backwards to try to maintain this feeling so that we can all work together to achieve spectacular results. I'd also taken an interest in Microsoft SQL Server later in my career because I found it interesting, and Red Gate had presented a great opportunity to get more familiar with this technology.

What are your favourite Red Gate perks?

I like the travel opportunities the most, probably since I am used to traveling a lot and seeing new places. Since I've worked for Red Gate, I have been to Orlando, San Diego, London, Birmingham, and Amsterdam (twice). I've had the opportunity to earn some Microsoft industry certifications and attend a few conferences to learn from the professionals.

What's your most memorable Red Gate experience so far?

When I was at Microsoft Tech-Ed in Amsterdam in 2005, and Microsoft was demonstrating the soon-to-be-released SQL Server 2005. They opened the floor up to questions, and the first question was "Will this work with SQL Compare?".