In our new series, we talk to our experts about how to navigate what’s next in their industries or fields.
Jo Karnes is a Senior Architect for our Enterprise Collaboration practice with expertise in SharePoint, Exchange, Active Directory and the Power Platform. She has been in the technology field for over 20 years and lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Jo has three kids and spends most of her time stuck in the house due to the ongoing Pandemic.
What’s your story?
I started working at a help desk back in the late 90s, doing PC support. I knew I didn’t want to do that forever, and NT4 was starting to supplant Novell as the new go-to Server Operating system. So, I started learning everything I could about the technology and never looked back. I’ve since spent most of my time in the Microsoft ecosystem of products.
What’s the best feedback you’ve ever received?
Since I work with these technologies heavily for a living, they become second nature when explaining it. This can be detrimental when customers are unfamiliar with the technology, so I’ve been told to reel in being overly technical. Now, I try and tell a story instead of laying out technical options all the time.
Why did you decide to become part of your field?
In 1997, while still in college, I really needed a job.
How are you guiding clients right now?
I recently ran a workshop on guiding a client through their governance plan around the Power Platform. I’ve been working with the platform since it was released in Preview a couple of years ago, and more customers are becoming interested in it and want to leverage it.
What, in your opinion, do companies need the most help with right now?
The cloud. That’s a big term, with a lot of technologies associated with it, but I still see many industries and industry leaders who are unsure of it and why they should even consider looking at it.
What do you think they should be thinking about next?
I think AI is the current, trendy buzzword that tends to get floated around right now, but honestly, it’s very true. AI will supplant many of the processes performed by today’s workers, and many organizations would be foolish to ignore what a game-changer it will be.
What are you looking forward to in your industry?
When I started in IT, my greatest fear was a server crashing in the middle of the day (or even worse, at 2 a.m.) I want to see reliability in all of these services continue to improve, so I don’t have to lie awake at night worrying about them.
What’s your favorite thing to do with your family?
I’m renting a new house, and now I’ve got a backyard again. My kids and I love spending our days out back when it’s not raining. We do some yard work, but we mostly just enjoy having the opportunity to have more space for ourselves and play.
