Feedback:Â Â
Hi Aparna,
Greetings from SF Bay Area! As a
former Contributing Editor/Columnist for PC Quest (and probably
have something published in Dataquest as well.. :), I've always
had my radars go up at any mention of CIOL. :)
So I was quite (pleasantly)
surprised to see CIOL mentioned in the subject line in a whole
thread of posts on MVP secure newsgroups.
I read your article, thanks to
someone who's also a MVP and most likely residing in India.
Here's my $0.02 worth on the MVP
program:
- Clarification: It's not
for developers only - there are a whole lot of products,
technologies and platforms for which MVP awards are handed
out. I'm sure you came across the list of awardees and the
products/technologies listing on the MVP site.
- Efforts: These don't
come easy for the awardees - there is a high level of
commitment and work involved, and there are no guarantees one
would get an award, though I'm not completely aware what the
standards are in India for being awarded, I doubt these would
be much different than those in the US or rest of the world
for that matter
Does Microsoft benefit? Yes, of course! It has plenty of
benefits for Microsoft in many ways, and that's the reason
they invest in such a program, but potential MVPs do have
their motivations and benefits, some of which are outlined
below.
- Professional recognition
& other benefits: Awardees benefit from increased
visibility and recognition in the community - this is
professional recognition. There are also increased
opportunities in the form of working closely with Microsoft,
getting early access to products, training, free attendance to
MVP summit in Redmond every 18 months with plenty of Microsoft
folks in attendance and close interaction with product teams,
and other benefits that motivate most MVPs to continue with
their efforts for as long as they do.
- Career benefits because
of the professional recognition from being a MVP. You get
better job opportunities, you are more valued for your
employer, more so if they're engaged in anything to do with
Microsoft products and technologies, e.g.
consulting/professional services, independent software vendor
(ISV), et al. Many MVPs go on to write for technical journals
such as those published by your company (some have been doing
it before they became MVPs), write books, speak at technical
events/conferences, participate in offline and online user
groups, et al.
- Are MVPs technical
experts?: Yes, that's part of the reason why one does get
awarded. You can't really become a MVP without having good to
great technical capabilities, imo, and post-award you continue
to get more opportunities to increase your technical
excellence - if that's something you're keen on doing as most
tech folks are - in terms of interaction with other MVPs, most
of whom are technically quite savvy and knowledgeable folks,
and also with the respective product teams within Microsoft
Overall, I think the MVP program
is quite beneficial for both Microsoft and the awardees (if they
want it to be). Some MVPs may get recognized for their efforts
which they start/continue irrespective of the MVP award, some (..
the rare few) don't care much for the award (though I haven't
found any of these yet... ), but by and large most MVPs are
motivated by some of the above factors and are proud to be part of
a select community of recognized experts and community leaders
specializing in Microsoft products & technologies.
Hope you find this feedback
useful!
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