Vita

PowerShell – kurz & gut (O'Reilly)

Since 2004 I have worked freelance as a consultant, trainer and author in information technology.

I graduated with a teaching degree (Staatsexamen) in German and mathematics. In the late 1990s I was drawn as a networking specialist and Unix enthusiast to Deutsches Provider Network, later to a large systems house in North Rhine-Westphalia, ADA. I kept teaching nonetheless — just different subjects.

At ADA, Microsoft technologies entered the picture. Since Windows 2000 I have followed their server infrastructures — that is, since the beginnings of Active Directory. Over those years I earned numerous certifications. The one that still means most to me is Microsoft Certified Trainer, from the year 2000.

My real passion was always scripting. Sun Solaris and FreeBSD shaped my early career. The love of the command line that grew there led me early and naturally to my focus today: PowerShell.

I host the podcast Sliding Windows and am the author of the O’Reilly series PowerShell – kurz & gut. I write technical articles regularly, mainly for the magazine IT-Administrator from Heinemann Verlag. At conferences I speak on IT automation and IT security — and I am one of the organisers of PowerShell Conference Europe (PSConf.eu), the world’s largest PowerShell conference.

What still drives me is, at heart, the same as at the beginning: the joy of explaining. Only the curriculum now changes on a yearly cycle — and that is a good thing. I get to work independently and creatively, with colleagues around the world. And anyone who stays long enough notices: you are not only working with technology, you live through a piece of contemporary history.

Areas of expertise

  • PowerShell and automation
  • Windows Server and Active Directory
  • Systems administration (Windows, Linux)
  • Networking (IPv4/IPv6, cloud networking, Microsoft Azure network services)
  • UNIX/Linux and interoperability
  • Operational security and hardening

Certifications

  • Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) — continuously since 2000
  • Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
  • Linux Professional Institute: LPIC-2 Administrator

A detailed profile is available as a PDF in Englisch and German.