I just got an email from Microsoft – they’ve given me the MVP award for the area of File System Storage! Great news – so how do I feel? Not quite as good as the “Steve” in this video, but pretty good…
So what does this mean? Am I now a shill, beholden forever to Redmond? Should I return the Mac? Hardly!
In fact, the program materials all stress that, since we were nominated for what we did in the past, we should go right on doing just what we were doing. For me, this means remaining non-partisan in the storage wars – I’m on the side of what works and delivers results, not what one vendor or the other decides is best. Microsoft has done some really great things in the storage arena, and has given much of it away for free, and that’s the simple truth. If they change their stance, expect me to call them on it, MVP or not.
I believe in maintaining the best possible relationship with everyone in the business, from vendors to analysts, so I can make great things happen for my clients, the end users of technologies. This award gives me exceptional access to Microsoft resources, and I intend to call on them when my clients need help. Simply put, being a Microsoft MVP means I can step up the level of service I can deliver.
Only one thing bugs me about this: The name. Seriously, “MVP”? I’m not A-Rod! And “File System Storage”? I guess they had to tie the award to some product area, so “storage technologies” or “enterprise storage” wouldn’t have worked. So, yeah baby, I hit home runs with NTFS!