CEO Rachel Clements Reflects on 2009
	The last 11 years seem to have passed in a flash. The saying goes that time flies when you're having fun and I'm one of the lucky people in this world who loves their job and right now I'm having a ball! I'm at the frontline of customer support at Norb Technologies and first to deal with queries, questions, compliments and complaints. As a founding member and driver of the future of the company, it's critical my heart is fully into my work. I can say with genuine honesty that I am driven by my love for programming and even more, my passion for hunting
down and fixing bugs. The job satisfaction of positive feedback from a customer in making their life easier when they use our software is at the very center of all my motivation. Last year was not without its low points, but looking back I think it was pretty darned good. Having not long joined the Business of Software network, which was set up by Red Gate's Neil Davidson, we started a software partnership with MyLittleTools as a result of this network. Founder Elian Chrebor is a great person to work with and has become a firm friend of Norb. It's unbeliveable that it was February, less than 12 months ago as I write this, that we joined Twitter. Our community knowledge base SQL Server Club (SSC) has earned a huge following, and we're stunned by the number of supporters we have. Not to mention that we have the Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Twitter profiles following us! Testiment that we are doing good things. And by October last year we topped 1,000 followers, making us the third most popular SQL Server related profile on Twitter. So what about the software? The new look enterprise version of SQL Task Manager was renamed and released as SQL Enterprise Monitor in July. It seemed such a long development time to ship it, but it was well worth the effort. With lots of new features and a new look it paved the way for the release of SQL Defrag Studio, the upgrade to Visual Defrag, later in October. We've been amazed at the positive response we've had and are determined to take this tool from strength to strength. I can't tell you how proud we were to initally release it way back in October 2005, making it the first SQL Server defrag tool to hit the market! We have just entered into a reseller agreement with Idynamic Media to take our software to Hong Kong and the Far East. We're now in their catalog along with such names as ComponentOne, Telerik, VMWare and Infragistics to name a few! I can't look back on 2009 without thinking of the SQLBits conference we helped out at in Newport, Wales in November. Organized by some seriously dedicated MVPs, this was a top notch three day event and I was so excited to be just a small part of it. I met some truly talented and intelligent people and and was chuffed at how interested they were to hear about Norb and SSC. As a result of SQLBits, I am now publishing MVP Andy Couch's excellent articles on SSC and thank him for letting me do this. This year we have a lot of plans and a lot of work to do. Our annual review highlighted the areas we need to give greater focus to and we're always open to new ideas and ready to listen to our customers. We have some exciting product ideas and will work hard to solidify our existing range of tools. I consider myself priviledged to work with my co-founder and the team that keeps Norb and SSC alive, including the technical authors writing for SQL Server Club from round the world who have become loyal friends to both myself and the community. Thank you to all our customers, supporters, followers on Twitter, SQL Server Club members and everyone who has played a part. Bring on the next 11 years!
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