In my case, it was technology in the beginning – I have been working as a trainer since 2007, if I remember correctly then I received the MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) certificate.

I acted as a freelancer and soaked up all the novelties to tell people during the trainings about all the possibilities of the software. I sat in technology up to my ears, followed all the changes, tested new applications, checked what each checkbox was for. I passed certificates for power, literally everything (MCT, MCSA, MCSE, security, messeging, Sharepoint, Project, Exchange Server, System Center, Vista …).

Over time, I moved away from technology towards the people – in IT companies that I had the opportunity to co-found (Infowave with Łukasz Falaciński, Developico and the Akademia Aplikacji with Łukasz and Michał Guzowski) I started to use the acquired knowledge in the real world, consulting and implementing software in our clients’ environments.

I worked with people more and more. Analysis, design, understanding business needs, negotiations, project management, all these tasks have become my everyday life. On the other hand, the internal team grew and it was necessary to properly coordinate it and manage tasks. I had less time for technology, and I must admit that I was less willing to learn it over the years. Its role in my daily life has evolved into a set of tools necessary for my daily activities. You could say that the Pareto principle started to work: 20% of the software capabilities met 80% of my needs.

After several years of working on both sides of the technological barricade, I realized how different our approaches to all kinds of applications are – some want to know everything, “get excited” with each novelty, others need minimal technology impact, make e-mail work and knowledge to arrange meetings in calendar.

I understand both sides, so I decided to share with managers and team managers my approach to applications – put the necessary minimum to work – but consciously – to create a technological context that will serve your and your team’s daily work.

In this series of articles, I will touch on the context of Office 365 and the applications available in this suite based on my experience as a manager.