I’m Hugo Bernier

The world’s laziest developer

I started working with SharePoint back when it was codenamed Tahoe — before it actually became SharePoint 2001. I have been working with it ever since.

This is my least favorite part about blogging: talking about myself. I have no problems talking about the AI, Microsoft Power Platform (especially Power Pages!!!), SharePoint, Dynamics, software development, but I don’t like talking about myself.

I know, I know, I’m supposed to establish my credibility as an expert, blah, blah, blah… but here’s how I see it: read my blog and see for yourself. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe I do. There’s really no way for me to tell.

I grew up near Quebec City but moved to Toronto to learn to speak English. I have yet to master the English language. I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or sentences that don’t make sense.

I’m a former McKinsey & Company consultant, but a developer at heart. I use my experience to help bridge the ubiquitous gap between business and technology.

I have pretty much worked almost exclusively with Microsoft technologies; Power Pages (and the rest of the Power Platform), Dynamics 365, and SharePoint are some of my favourite things.

I call myself the World’s Laziest Developer. I’ll always try to look for ways to use the built-in capabilities of a system before writing custom code. When I resort to custom code, it is because there is no built-in way to do it. Nothing makes me angrier than people writing custom code when they could use out-of-the-box functionality.

I am autistic and have ADHD. I also suffer from impostor’s syndrome.

Once in a while, I find myself researching the same thing over and over again; things that I think should be obvious and easy to find, but that no one has bothered to write about (probably because it is so obvious for everyone but me?).

When I finally find the answer, I usually think “I should blog about this”. Actually, the lazy person in me usually thinks “someone else should blog about this”.

The posts in this blog may not be earth-shattering, mind-blowing, original, or interesting to anyone else. It intends to be a series of notes to myself so that I don’t have to search again.

If it also happens to help you, even better!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

My approach

We (people who work in Information Technology) seem to forget that we write software for people -- not for computers. We also seem to treat every software project like it is the first project that we have ever done, and I drives me absolutely bonkers! Work on smaller deliverables, learn from your mistakes, and adopt a delivery mindset. Rinse and repeat.

My skills

I wouldn't exactly say that I have any skills, but I am passionate about a whole bunch of things. Power Platform, Dynamics 365, SharePoint (including SPFx), .NET are the obvious ones. Agile development (Certified SCRUM Master). User Experience and anything related to how we perceive and process information. Accessibility, and diversity and inclusion. Community-building and public speaking. I hope that what I lack in skills, I make up for with passion.