Leaving Seattle after the MVP Summit

I’m at the airport right now, waiting for my next flight, as I am leaving Seattle after the MVP Summit. It was a blast and I got to meet up with very talented, experienced and driven people once more. Thank you all for the very warm welcome and the care you took of us during our week here.

We discussed technology and business all day long at length and in depth. On to of that we provided feedback on the good, the bad and the ugly as we see it in real life. We got briefed and asked for our insights and input on a variety of trends in both business and technology. Since the content of the MVP Summit is strictly under NDA you will not find out anything about the content. Which begs the question, where is the value?

Where is the value?

For an MVP the value lies in the fact that the MVP Summit helps us become very well connected professionals with a global network of experts. We can leverage this network to learn and grow, get help and help others out. In this modern and connected technology-driven world no one exists and grows in isolation. It is fun to see ourselves progress as well as see new blood join us and grown at an amazing rate. It gives me faith that the future influx of talent is secured.

MVPs put in a lot of effort in lifelong learning and developing skills in both existing and emerging technologies. When you like to learn, this is a fun thing to do. As an employer, you get to tap into that pool of talented both directly and indirectly. When you have such talent, support it, give it room to grow. You’ll have allies for life even if they move on. Intrinsic motivation is the best there is, and you’d be downright silly not to leverage this. The cost is is perhaps 3 to 4 days of expert consulting and as such basically, a non-issue if you’re smart about it.

Tapping into that talent

That value MVPs provide is available to those that employ and hire us. To the management that hires smart people and listens to them. Those that let talent, professional drive and skills thrive. Organizations, where good ideas and result driven approaches are valued, will thrive and outperform those run by politics. Those are the places were talent is welcomed and can shine. Most MVPs work in such companies or actually run their own companies to make sure their talent can be put to use.

For now, I am continuing my journey of investing in myself and learning by collaborating with to some of the top players, small and large, in hardware and software in a very diverse hybrid world. I will be sharing what I learn along the way in life Belgium, Holland, Germany, Slovakia, … in person. And, thanks to the connected global community, with anyone that joins our community efforts online.

Conclusion

If you have an employee that gets awarded Microsoft MVP, take note. These people are in your talent pool! That is very good news. Support them, retain them, value them and their efforts. These profiles are not readily available, hard to attract and harder to retain. Not because they are over demanding spoiled people, but because they love what they do, are smart and realize when their efforts are not appreciated, recognized or rewarded. Take care of your talent and they will take care of your business. It is not a one-way street.

On route to Bellevue/Redmond

I’m writing this form the lounge in LHR before I make my way to the gate to board BA049 that will take me to SEATAC. Yes, it is that time of year again, I am on route to Bellevue/Redmond. Many other MVPs and I are heading to Bellevue/Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Global Summit 2019

Good times ahead

There are indeed good times. The accumulated skills, experiences and knowledge of so many intelligent people working at the Microsoft Redmond campus get an influx or real-world experiences from all over the globe. Meanwhile, the rest of the globe experiences a small brain drain in the IT sector. I actually run into quite a few of them as we all make our way over via different routes crossing paths.

The summit is what you make of it. That’s why I arrive on time and don’t leave early. I save up my pennies to attend and I will make the most of it. It is one the highlights every year in my technology existence. I’m learning continously in a world that spans the cloud & datacenter and combines on-premises, private, hybrid and public cloud to support both proven and emerging technologies. This is the age of combing skills that cover a very broad spectrum of technologies and require a deep understanding and common sense to deliver future proof designs and solutions. They have to keep the business running while enabling the future and avoiding dead ends. Quite a challenge, but I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work and learn with so many smart people in Redmond that have put enough trust in me to award me my MVP title.

The summit is an opportunity to learn, network and socialize with the MVP community members we often only see at conferences and events. The digital age enables us to keep in touch, collaborate and share year round. But, the summit is something special. Since my very 1st summit (an extra special experience) many moons ago I have not missed one. Microsoft has always made me feel very welcome, appreciated and respected.

I also make time to meet up with friends who live around Puget Sound. Some natives, some moved there for work, love or both. That’s always a fun and good use of time. We’ll be raising our glasses and making a toast to absent friends. Those who could not make it, they are genuinely missed!

I’m happy to be able to attend the Global Microsoft MVP Summit

I am truly happy to be hopping over the big pond once more on route to Bellevue/Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Global Summit 2019. We get to immerse ourselves in technology, give feedback and learn about future plans. It makes me grow as a person, it helps me recharge my battery. These are the good days. The days that compensate for those times no one wants to know about. When the chips are down, the budgets tight, the services down – mostly not by your own doing – and you give it all you have to make it work like clockwork again. Or in 99% of times when things run along smoothly and no one knows or notices. Proactive work and interventions are not seen or recognized.

It takes a lot of effort and dedication to be really good at what one does. And you can’t administer your way of out problems. High value, effective and efficient high availability, high performance that is affordable don’t allow for wishful engineering. Something that many managers and ITIL aficionados forget or like to pretend that they don’t exist. Those times when those hard-won skills, your knowledge, and experience are brought in to make the world right again. The times when owning the full stack also puts the full responsibility on your shoulders. You are taken for granted when it all works, it’s forgotten when you fixed it when the universe went “boink” and you are reminded of it when the downtime needs to be explained. Those lonely, dark and cold moments in the glorious life of technical experts no one mentions. But the coming week, I spend in the halls of technical Walhalla where the brave and best IT professionals sit side by side. This investment in my professional education is a gift to myself.

It takes a village (community) effort to raise kids and enable lifelong learning, But you also have to get out of that village and into the big world (another community) to grow, learn and share. My fellow MVPs, I am on my way!

Protecting your data is paramount

It is often stated about storage engineers that they have only one rule and that is to never lose data. This is true and it pretty much determines all of their actions. But in reality, this is a top priority for all of us. It has always been like this, but in a full stack world, it is truer than ever. The prime directive of anyone working in ICT, in any role, from helpdesk to CIO, from IT Pro to developer, is to keep services up and running. You have to do this in order to be able to deliver value to the customers. That is how you make a living.

And guess what? In order for services to be up and running, you also need to have any data required protected, available and usable. It’s no good to have developer corrupt the data logically or physically, have a CISO force encryption but lose the keys to the kingdom, or have ransomware render your backups useless. The list of bad things that can and do happen is long and sobering.

It’s no good to have data available you cannot use or read. This is true for all data no matter its nature or where it resides. While funny to a point to the people who are not involved or affected, stating that technically the data is not lost as you know where it is but you just can never access it again is no good at all and far from a joke.

The reality is that bad things do happen no matter how well you try to prevent it. So, you should never bank on solitary solutions. Always give yourself multiple options. From the good old 3-2-1 rule and to having air-gap studies; to not banking on one type of storage, technology, location, process or person, it is all part of adequate to excellent protection. If the business truly and honestly states its data is the gold that makes them thrive, they must act to protect it accordingly.

Are you going then?

No, unfortunately, I’m am otherwise engaged on the days of the conference. Didier, how can you say that to invest in attending VeeamON 2019 when you are not even going yourself? 1^st of all, I’d go if I did not have prior engagements – I have done so in the past. I learned a lot and I’m still in touch with customers and Veeam employees I met there. Secondly, an investment does not always involve my physical person being on the scene. It is about getting the right knowledge and insights to the right people in the right places. That means sending colleagues, employees, customers to conferences and training and not always yourself. You develop the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of your organization. Data availability is a primary concern and a goal that I can only achieve when it does not depend solely on me. That too is investing. Helping others learn, grow and succeed help everyone out. Needless to say, I wish I was able to go.

Attend VeeamON 2019

Given the important task of keeping data available and the responsibility to protect and having the ability to recover it when things go wrong, you have a business case to attend VeeamON 2019. In today’s diverse, complex, and fragmented IT ecosystem that data is spread across more places, in different layers and in more elaborate solutions than ever before. This makes data protection and availability a challenge.

When business happens at the speed of light you also have to make data available at that pace when required in different locations for various use cases. Data mobility is a reality and this also has to happen in a secure and workable manner.

We can use all the help we can get to make this happen. The good news is you do not have to go it alone. Attend VeeamON 2019 to give yourself a head start. Invest in your business and your staff. Help them succeed. Register!

You can tap into the collective brain of all the attendees. Talk to knowledgeable and experienced practitioners. Learn from your peers and Veeam experts. Gain insights from others on how to approach the challenges you face. Have that discussion to gain a better understanding of what you can do and how. Get your compass aligned so you can confirm you are right on track to deliver what is asked for you. After all, it is not a small or benign job, to have to ensure the safety of your organizations 21^st-century gold, its data. Discover what Veeam is doing in R&D to help you meet future requirements where ever your date lives.

Don’t forget that others can learn from you as well. Consider responding to the request for proposals. Share what you know and have learned. Contribute and learn whilst teaching. Invest in attending VeeamON 2019.