![\"Smile\"](\"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/wlEmoticon-smile.png\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s with some sadness that I have to report that I am no longer a Hyper-V MVP.<\/p>\n
11 years ago, I got and email to say that I had been awarded MVP status \u2026 in System Center Configuration Manager. Yes, I used to do a lot of stuff on ConfigMgr. But by the time I\u2019d been awarded, that had all stopped and I had refocused on server stuff, particularly virtualization and especially Hyper-V. A year later, my expertise was changed to that of Hyper-V, which later merged into a larger grouping of Cloud & Datacenter Management.<\/p>\n
Being a Hyper-V MVP changed my career. I had early access to information and I was able to pose questions about things to my fellow MVPs and the program managers of Hyper-V, Failover Clustering, networking, and Windows Server storage. I learned an incredible amount, and the many posts on this site and my books all had input from my time as an MVP. Job openings appeared because of the knowledge I obtained, and I got to write for Petri.com. And being an MVP opened up speaking opportunities at many events around the world, including TechEd Europe and the very first Ignite.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s so many people to thank from over the years. I won\u2019t name names because I\u2019ll offend someone\u00a0 because I\u2019ll surely forget someone. My (ex-)fellow Hyper-V MVPs are an awesome bunch. We all found are niche areas and I can remember many times we\u2019d meet at a user group event and pool our knowledge to make each other better. In particular, I remember speaking at an event in Barcelona during the build-up to WS2012 and spending hours in a meeting room, going over things that we\u2019d learned in that dizzyingly huge release.<\/p>\n
I want to thank the Program Managers in Windows Server, Hyper-V, Failover Clustering & Storage, and Networking for the many hours of deep dive sessions, the answers they\u2019ve given, the time they\u2019ve taken to explain, the tips given, and the opportunity to contribute. Yes, I got a lot out of being a Hyper-V MVP, and I love looking at the feature list and thinking to myself, \u201cme and <person X> were the ones that asked for that\u201d. The PMs are a patient bunch \u2026 they have to be to deal with the likes of me \u2026 but they\u2019re the ones that make the MVP program work. I\u2019d love to tell stories, but you know \u2026 NDAs <\/p>\n
I knew that this day when I\u2019d stop being a Hyper-V MVP was coming. Actually, that suspicion started back in the WS2012 era when I saw where MS was going with Hyper-V. The product was evolving for a market that is very small in Ireland. I knew I had to change, and that was triggered when Microsoft Ireland came to our office at work, and asked us to help develop the Azure business with Microsoft Partners. 4.5 years ago, I made the change, and I started to work with the largest Hyper-V clusters around.<\/p>\n
Last year I was made a dual-expertise MVP with Azure being added. I work nearly 100% on Azure, and I have always written about what I work with. Anytime I find a solution, or learn something cool (that I can talk about) I write about it. I was re-awarded yesterday as an Azure MVP, but my Cloud & Datacenter Management expertise was dropped. I expected it because I simply had not earned the privilege over the last year to be re-awarded. I have a full and happy family life and I don\u2019t have enough time to give a dual-expertise status what I think it deserves from me. I was not surprised, but I was a bit sad because being a Hyper-V MVP was a career changer for me and I made lots of great friends.<\/p>\n
For those of you who are new to the program or who want to get involved in being an MVP, I have some advice: Make the most of it. The opportunity is awesome but you only get from it what you put in. Take part, learn, contribute, and share. It\u2019s a virtuous cycle, and the more you do, the more you get out from it.<\/p>\n
Being a part of the community hasn\u2019t ended for me. I\u2019ll still be writing and speaking about Azure. In fact, my employers are running a big community event on October 17th in Dublin (details to come soon) on Azure, Windows Server 2019, and more. And who knows \u2026 maybe I\u2019ll still write some about Hyper-V every now and then <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/C_GHF7RXUAQJ4kP.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n
Left to right: Tudor Damian, me, Carsten Rachfahl, Ben Armstrong (Hyper-V), Didier Van Hoye \u2013 Hyper-V MVPs with Ben at Cloud & Datacenter Conference Germany 2017.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s with some sadness that I have to report that I am no longer a Hyper-V MVP. 11 years ago, I got and email to say that I had been awarded MVP status \u2026 in System Center Configuration Manager. Yes, I used to do a lot of stuff on ConfigMgr. But by the time I\u2019d … Continue reading “Not A Hyper-V MVP Anymore”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[170,181,79],"class_list":["post-21219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-azure","tag-hyper-v","tag-mvp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t