On January 1, 2011, 229 leaders in technical communities from around the world received for the first time recognition as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Awardees and 834 MVPs were re-awarded. The MVP Award recognizes inspiring, trusted, and independent experts who voluntarily share their passion and knowledge of Microsoft products with others.
Announcements are made
quarterly and each year more than 4,000 MVPs are honored. MVPs represent nearly
100 countries, speak over 40 different languages, and are awarded in almost 90
Microsoft technologies. Together, they answer more than 10 million questions
each year.
This quarter, the MVP
Award is extended to two new areas of technical expertise: eight MVPs have been
awarded for their expertise in Office 365 and four in SQL Azure. MVP Business Group
Lead Rowena Branch is excited to welcome these new MVPs, explaining,
“Office 365 is a key component in Microsoft’s online services strategy. Having demonstrated their commitment to contributing their expertise in Exchange, Lync, SharePoint, and Office 365, these new Office 365 MVPs will have the opportunity to partner with current MVPs who have expertise in Microsoft’s on-premise offerings. SQL Azure and Windows Azure are essential parts of Microsoft’s Azure Platform and Cloud Development. The newly awarded SQL Azure MVPs will have opportunities to collaborate around cloud-based application development.”
To become an MVP,
candidates are nominated by Microsoft, other community individuals, or in some
cases themselves. Candidates are rigorously evaluated for their technical
expertise, community leadership, and voluntary community contributions for the
previous year. Please visit our nomination page to nominate yourself or someone
you know to be considered for an MVP Award.
We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the new MVPs, and welcome back to re-awarded MVPs. Here’s to a great award year!