PSA: I’m handing in my Microsoft MVP badge

After over 10 years in the program, I’m choosing not to renew my Microsoft MVP award this year. 

The MVP program has been a huge part of my life and I credit it with having the greatest impact on my career. It opened doors, it enabled conversations, it taught me so much, and it introduced me to some amazing people. It’s been an absolute blast, and I feel very lucky to have been a part of it.

But 10 years is a long time. Many things have changed and both the MVP program and me are different to what we were a decade ago. That’s not a bad thing or a good thing, but it is a truth.

Over the past 6 months or so, I’ve decided that I need a new challenge. I tend to thrive on the exploration, understanding and application of new ideas, new technologies, new ways of doing things. Sometimes, the comfy chair can become a little too comfy. It’s time for me to throw myself into something I don’t know as well.

I’m staying in the communications world but I’m broadening out from just Microsoft UC. It’s no secret that the company that I work for now – CloudInteract – are an AWS partner. I’ve been spending time understanding their CCaaS platform, Amazon Connect, and so that’s where you can expect me to be concentrating my efforts moving forward. 

I’ll still be blogging and I’ll still be on LinkedIn. My blog has never just been about Microsoft technology – very long time readers will recall it started off being about nANT and CruiseControl – instead it tends to follow my interests. All the existing content remains, for free, and will do for as long as I’m in charge of it.

There’s another reason that I feel comfortable making this jump. When I first started blogging and speaking about developing solutions on Microsoft UC (at the time it was Office Communicator, then Microsoft Lync), I was the ONLY developer at a conference of IT Pros. In fact, apart from my manager (shout out to Paul Nearney who got me started on my MVP journey) I only knew of one other person building UC-based solutions – Michael Greenlee who had, quite literally, written the book on the subject.

Today, the community is rich with developers, both low and pro code, bringing their talents and experiences to help people build solutions. With such great talent I don’t feel at all bad about stepping away, and it’s a testament to the community that I feel reassured that should I ever decide to return in the future I will find a kind and supportive environment waiting for me. I know this because I’ve seen first hand how the Microsoft 365 MVP community welcomes new members and treats everyone with respect and love. It really is one of the best communities in tech, and I feel very proud that I played my own small part in building that.

There are so many people I would like to say thank you to, and I’ve done my best over the past few weeks to do so in person where I can. I’m resisting trying to make a list, as invariably I will miss someone out. But I do want to reserve a special mention for my wife Emma, for the support you’ve given me over the last 11 years. Being an MVP means yielding to an over-achiever type desire to perform, which takes time away from other things, and I’m very grateful for the countless evenings and weekends you’ve given me as I’ve selfishly chosen to spend time blogging, filming or travelling. I can’t promise it’s going to end, but hey, it might at least be different! 😉 xx

It’s a classic cliche, often said when changing jobs, but it’s the people that I will miss the most. Realistically, I know that I will probably drift apart from many of you, but there are also some firm friendships that have developed over the years that I hope will continue. You know where I am, I’ll still be on LinkedIn – if you ever need anything from me, please ask.

I understand if you want to use this announcement as a reason to stop following my content, as it’s clearly going to be less Microsoft-focused going forward. But, if you’re in the UC or CCaaS world, if you’re into technology or are curious, sometimes considering alternative ways of doing things, alternative technologies and approaches, can make you a more rounded individual. The technology world is small and, particularly amongst the big firms, there is a lot of movement of talent. This is just another one of those – no biggie 🙂

I’ll be taking a social media break over Easter, and I’ll be back after that with a new focus. It’s a new chapter, and I’m excited. The way that AI is impacting contact centres right now is massive and I have a long list of things I want to talk about!

PS – I had been thinking about how to structure this post for a few days, and was killing time in an airport lounge procrastinating instead of writing a draft when I read something from Microsoft employee and ex-MVP Fabian Willians, someone that I really respect as a technology visionary, and it really resonated with me in that moment. “Qui non proficit deficit“ – thanks Fabs, that’s exactly what I needed to hear.