I was re-awarded as a Microsoft MVP – Cloud and Datacenter Management 2023-2024

I was re-awarded as a Microsoft MVP – Cloud and Datacenter Management 2023-2024

While I was on vacation I received an e-mail that I was re-awarded as a Microsoft MVP – Cloud and Datacenter Management 2023-2024. Needless to say that this put a big smile on my face, despite my vacation coming to an end. Yes it is and remains an honor to be awarded and recognized as a global expert in the community by Microsoft. We all like a compliment and some confirmation that what we do is valuable. As always, it is also a humbling experience, as you meet quite a lot of very talented people which can make that old imposter syndrome flare up.

I was re-awarded as a Microsoft MVP - Cloud and Datacenter Management 2023-2024

For those not in the know, MVP in this case stands for Most Valuable Professional, not Player 😊.

I was re-awarded as a Microsoft MVP - Cloud and Datacenter Management 2023-2024

This is my 12th Microsoft MVP award and it represents a long journey through technology in the Microsoft ecosystem. In tech things seems to change fast and tend not to last long. But it is the learning you do along the way that last through time. Nothing I have learned has ever become completely obsolete and the experience and inights, even from learning VBA and Visual Basic in the early days still help me today as I talk to developers whose Azure infrastructure I help optimize and secure.

I am grateful for the recognition and support of both the community and Microsoft. Especially to the people who originally saw my potential and supported my first-ever nomination as well as those that support me today. The award itself is not the goal, it is a by-product of being active in the global community. Engaging in and with the community helps us all learn, progress, and succeed in our jobs by sharing experiences, knowledge, and insights.

It is all about community

Without any doubt, no matter how good and smart you are or how hard you work, we need others to grow and flourish. You do not contribute to the community in isolation. Sure, IT pros do a lot of technology work individually while testing and learning in the lab, troubleshooting, and delivering projects. Sharing and learning in the community happens with and thanks to others. People who give us opportunities, support, and help us. That means fellow technologists, employers, colleagues, vendors, and our audience asking questions that make us learn even more as well.

Aditionally, let’s not forget about the people who are not in the spotlight. We get a lot of support from those providing locations, material, and logistic support. Many “smaller” businesses are often very generous in this regard. We are all “kids” getting raised in and by a village and in one form or another we all stand on the shoulder of giants. That’s why we all owe at least a little gratitude to all the people and organizations that help us progress. So to all those who do, thank you!

Some tips for businesses that employ MVPs

In the end, here is to another year of community activity where we all share, learn, and grow together. You can always start today. There is no age limit or right time. I was a long time lurker before I became publicly active voicing my opinions and sharing information. You can be an introvert or extrovert, young or old, and anything in between. All you need is the willingness to share and learn. Furthermore, you don’t need 50,000 followers on social media or whatever, you just need to make a difference.

Finally, I can only advise employers to support their community-minded employees. These are the people that learn, grow, adapt, and change with the needs and technology. Also, the incidental cost of travel, registration fees, and hotel nights are nothing compared to the return on investment. So let them attend some conferences and the MVP Summit

Well, to be honest, not supporting this would be penny-wise and pound-foolish. In the end that would mean you have no idea of the value of both developing and retaining talent. An MVP on staff will very easily safe you at least 30-40 days consulting per year. Think about that. Without any doubt, even at a medium rate of 125.00- $/hour means a serious ROI. Now add the cost of replacing such talent … it is a no brainer! You need to invest in on-board talent development anyhow and these are profiles that love to learn and share. That is a near to perfect as it gets people.

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

I am happy to share that I am both presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023. It runs September 18-20 2023 in Prague.

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

Isidora Katanic (@IsidoraKatanic) is the lead organizer and driving force behind Experts Live Europe. She’s dedicated to making this one of the best Microsoft technology-focused conferences in Europe. When you look at the pre-conference and session calendar you can already see this. She and her team lined up everything to make the 2023 edition a great professional and community experience. Experts Live Europe is a two-day conference (three days with the preconference workshops) and is scheduled in Prague, September 18-20,  2023.  It is the first edition since 2019 due to the Corona/Covid pandemic. I can share that I personally, and many others, are happy that this is possible again. Next to that, I am thrilled to share my research and expertise at this conference once more.

In my session “Azure Storage – The SMB over QUIC protocol is here!” I will be diving deeper into the why and how of SMB over QUIC.

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

This is a very powerful and promising, relatively recent addition to the SMB 3 stack. Once again it shows that file sharing is far from an obsolete protocol in the era of anything “cloud”.

Meet the experts and ask me anything galore

This conference is about you and me, about us, sharing insights, experiences, knowledge, and expertise. Both the concept and the setup of the conference facilitate this by design.

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

While I’m there, come say hi, and talk shop about networking, storage, clustering, Hyper-V, DevOps, Bicep, and Veeam data protection in on-premises, hybrid, and Azure scenarios. I’ll be around during the breaks for the “Ask The Expert” and at the dedicated speaker’s booth in the expo area. Now, next to a Microsoft MVP I am also a Veeam Vanguard. Veeam is a gold sponsor and I’ll be around their boot as well. So come find me if you want to talk about Veeam Backup & Replication, Hardened (immutable) repositories, and other related subjects.

I am there to learn as well

Finally,  I also look forward to the sessions other speakers are giving. One of those sessions, “Azure Firewall: The Legacy Firewall Killer”,  is presented by Aidan Finn (@joe_elway). That subject is both very interesting and a bit controversial. Many people know and master 3rd party firewall interfaces with their specific tooling and capabilities. While there is nothing wrong with that, many people scoff at Azure Firewall. But you should not write off Azure firewall with different products. This is especially true when you start delivering Azure Firewall via Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Call to action

Do not delay! Register to attend Experts Live Europe and do not miss out on a ton of great sessions by expert speakers,  networking with knowledgeable attendees, and talking shop with your fellow IT professionals, who are as passionate about technology as you.  I look forward to seeing you there.

Presenting at and attending Experts Live Europe 2023

VeeeamOn 2023 – The Community Event for Data Recovery Experts

Why attend VeeamOn?

VeeeamOn 2023 – The Community Event for Data Recovery Experts is in less than 50 days. During May 22nd -25th 2023, Veeam is organizing a hybrid event in Miami, Florida, USA. You can attend in person or online. This is “The Community Event for Data Recovery Experts” so if you fall into that target group, try to be there!

The high-level agenda is already available as well as the speakers list. A detailed agenda and schedule will be available any moment now. As you can see the content is real world actionable content. You will learn concepts, get tips, gain a deeper understanding of the challenges you face. Next to that you will learn how to address those challenges from industry experts and fellow professionals. Yes, it is not just vendor driven. The event speakers include partners, fellow IT professionals at customers sharing their knowledge and expertise with you!

This is truly a community event, and it will help you expand your on-prem, hybrid, cloud and security skills when it comes to data recovery. You will learn to build better solutions while growing your professional network in the global community.

VeeamOn is really special!

What sets Veeam apart is how accessible their top talent and leadership is. I have experienced it firsthand. That’s why I have found memories of the times I attend VeeamOn or other Veeam events. Parts of that is the conversations I had with Anton Gostev, Danny Allen, Rick Vanover and their team members. All solid technologists with a no nonsense, straight talk attitude when it comes to our business and technical challenges. This is pretty unique and shows how much they are involved in guiding Veeam on the best possible course to serve their customers as well as possible! I would say it is a privilege, but to Veeam each of their customers truly matters. How do I know? I am one and Veeam is a beacon of light and hope for other vendors to follow.

Call to action

Register now for VeeeamOn 2023 – The Community Event for Data Recovery Experts and do not miss out! Because I am a Veeam Vanguard and as gift to my readers and followers Veeam provided me with this discount code VOMIAMI1002. Using it will give you a 100$ discount when registering. I really hope you can make it, if not in person, then at least online. The good news is that Veeam got pretty good at organizing online events and makes those interactive as well. I wish you a great conference!

I made Veeam Vanguard 2022!

This morning I got an e-mail informing me that my 2022 Veeam Vanguard Renewal Nomination has been approved. Yes, I made Veeam Vanguard 2022! That’s is awesome news. While for the past two years, with Corona and Covid-19, community life has been different, it has most certainly not withered away. Quite the contrary, and the Veeam Vangaurd program has not been different. First, Veeam has made a great effort to support the community through all this. Secondly, the one in-person/hybrid event that was possible during all this (the Veeam Vanguard Summit 2021 in Prague) their care for us and our health was exemplary.

But that is not what being a Veeam Vanguard is all about, it does show that the community works to bring people together. Working, learing, sharing together builds community. And with the pandemic hopefully subsiding we will not have missed a single beat.

I am a Veeam Vanguard 2021
I am a Veeam Vanguard once more in 2022!

The Veeam Vanguard Program

I invite you to read all about the Veeam Vanguard Program here. If you are working with Veeam solution in any way, shape or form and like to share your knowledge it might be something for you! Veeam Vanguards come from all walks of life and backgrounds. What unites them in this community is their expertise in different verticals and in different disciplines. They all contribute to the community at large in different ways.

Honored, happy and humbled

As is often the case with awards and recognition it makes honored to be recognized, proud while also feeling humble. You must realize we all stand on the shoulders of giants. In the process of becoming an expert there is always the realization of how much we don’t know. Add in some “imposter syndrome” and there is no room for hubris. There is however joy of being part of the Veeam Vanguard programs. It means having the opportunity to spend my time learning along people that are the best in the business. Thank you Veeam and a big shout out the Rick, Nikola, Kseniya and the entire Product Strategy Team at Veeam for making this possible.