Meet Ari Weil
Over the next week, I’ll be interviewing a few Questies here on the blog. Today, it’s Ari Weil.
Pretend you’ve never met me. Introduce yourself with your name, your location, and where you’d rather be right now.
My name is Ari Weil. I currently live in West Roxbury, MA which is effectively Boston. I’d rather be sitting on a beach near the cliffs in Netanya, Israel if I could somehow do that and my job at the same time.
What do you do at Quest, other than answer emails from me?
I’m the product manager for Quest’s SQL Server performance and capacity management products. Product management is relatively enigmatic, but insofar as it pertains to my interpretation of the role, I am the glue between development, corporate direction, support, marketing and our customers. I am also notorious for poking my nose into places and processes where it appears some gentle prodding is required to get things done.
How long have you been with Quest, and has your job changed along the way?
I’ve been with Quest for 5 years now. I was originally hired on as the DB2 domain expert for Quest Software Israel (QSI) with the expectation of creating Performance Analysis for DB2. Right when I started there was a clean room process Quest had to undertake to remove all DB2 technology from our offices so I had nothing to do until the SQL Server domain expert left QSI and I was dubbed to take over that role. Over the course of my 3+ year tenure at QSI I ensured that Performance Analysis for SQL Server became a true SQL Server performance management product, and helped develop and nearly release Performance Analysis for DB2. In 2008 my family and I moved to Boston so I could begin working as a Solutions Architect for our SQL Server products. After doing that for nearly 9 months, I was asked to take over product management for Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL Server, Spotlight on SQL Server, and Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. Recently I was also asked to assume product management responsibility for Capacity Manager for SQL Server, and here we are.
If you could have any other profession, what would you do?
Wow, great question. My true passion is being creative – however I can. I love being in front of people. I used to play piano and sax and sometimes sing for groups in Cleveland where I grew up. I love to read & write (I graduated with distinction from THE – it’s important to stress the “the” – Ohio State University’s honors program with a bachelor of arts in English with a focus on creative writing). My dream is to find a way to write engaging fiction. Having said that, I have a background in drawing, painting and sculpture that I pursued for a while before being convinced that it was best left as a hobby. I’d love to go back to that when my kids are a bit older. I also love to get my adrenaline pumping, and if I ever become financially secure, I’d like to return to one of my two athletic passions: skydiving and scuba diving as an instructor. So, I suppose I’d like to move back to a tropical climate someday and be a tech-savvy artist who either teaches skydiving or scuba diving on the side. I see myself as over-tanned, always in a worn bathing suit and t-shirt, barefoot and happy. 
Mac or PC?
Another good question. I’m going to remain independent, just as with politics. I love my Mac, but I’m far too used to my PC for business to contemplate fully moving to Mac. Plus, I hate pigeonholes – one of my pet peeves.
At the end of yet another grueling 80-hour workweek at Quest, how do you unwind?
That’s easy. Family. It doesn’t matter what we do, I just want to be with my wife and kids (and if I could have it all, I’d like to be back with the rottweiler/golden retriever mix I had to leave in Israel, Blackie. I miss him to bits).
When you belly up to the bar at SQL Server events, what do you order?
Either a Guinness or a neat scotch. Depends on what type of day it’s been.
What music are you listening to right now?
Seal – trying to relax and block out the kid screaming in the seat behind me.
What’s your favorite Quest product, and why?
Performance Analysis for SQL Server because I put my heart and soul into that product for the last five years, and I honestly believe it’s the best SQL Server performance product out there by a mile.
Do you ever get tired of hearing me talk about blogs and Twitter?
HA, no. In fact I really envy your ability to keep up with blogs (I don’t care, I’m just not at all interested in Twitter). I know that if I didn’t have the family I’d be writing more, and it frustrates me that I haven’t found the formula for being great at my job and great at being a husband/dad while still leaving time to put together the types of articles I know I wish I could find when I’m looking for answers.
