60 Seconds with Michael Coles

Michael Coles is a SQL Server Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. He has written several books and articles on SQL Server. He is a regular columnist in http://www.sqlservercentral.com/ and regularly blogs at SQLblog. Michael is the author of several books, which are Pro T-SQL 2005 Programmer's Guide, Pro SQL Server 2008 XML, Pro SQL Server 2008 Full-Text Search and he contributed to Accelerated SQL Server 2008 .

Lets check out more about his books and his views on SQL Server 2008.

VJ: Please tell us about the motivation behind writing a book on XML?
Michael Coles: Initially I needed a reference book for SQL Server 2005’s new XML functionality (when it was first introduced), but everything I found seemed to be about the backwards-compatible SQL Server 2000 functionality that was carried forward. I think the lack of a reference that really covered the new features like the XML data type methods and XML Schema collections really made me decide to write Pro SQL Server 2008 XML.

VJ: There are so many features in SQL Server 2008, what do you think are the most useful for developers?
Michael Coles: (I assume this is about new features specifically). I’ve gotten a lot of good use out of a lot of the new features. It’s really hard to say what’s the “most useful” – it really depends on what you need. I’ve found the encryption functionality in SQL Server 2008 a particularly compelling feature, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of fanfare yet. The new functionality is integrated full-text search makes it a lot more useful as well. I also like the spatial data types, but it’s such specific functionality that I don’t know how many developers will get the opportunity to take advantage of it directly, without some sort of off-the-shelf geospatial/mapping software sitting there to use it.

VJ: Please tell us the advantages of storing data in XML in comparison with relational database?
Michael Coles: Now that’s a trick question :) There’s not really an “advantage” to storing XML versus relational form. What happens is people have requirements to store XML data they may receive from other sources, they may have a requirement to use XML columnsets for a more dynamic database, or they may just need to parse and process XML data.

There are a lot of DBAs who flatly reject XML, and in many cases they’re right. But XML is the lingua franca of the internet and at some point developers and DBAs will have to deal with it. To me some of SQL Server’s most compelling XML features are XQuery support, the FOR XML clause, and the shredding (converting XML to relational format) support of the XML data type. In other words a lot of SQL Server’s best XML features deal with processing XML on the server.

VJ: You are Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, what do you think about this program.
Michael Coles: It’s a very humbling experience. You get to meet some of the smartest SQL people on the planet – folks like Louis Davidson, Adam Machanic, Hugo Kornelis, Erland Sommarskog, Itzik Ben-Gan (and a bunch of others). To actually meet these people you’ve looked up to for so long is incredible. To have one or two say “I enjoyed your article” or “I like your code sample” is like icing on the cake.

VJ: Please tell us about your favorite authors?
Michael Coles: Oh wow – I like so many authors. For technical writing, I really like Adam Machanic and Itzik Ben-Gan’s books, Erland Sommarskog’s incredible white papers, and Pinal Dave’s blog (sqlauthority.com). For nontechnical writing I enjoy Simon Singh and Douglas Adams.

VJ: Please tell us about the SQL Server books that are part of your bookshelf?
Michael Coles: Let’s see – as examples I have the Knight and Veerman books (Pro and Expert SQL Server 2005 Integration Services books), the Dewson Pro SQL Server 2005 Assemblies book, the entire Inside SQL Server 2005 series from Delaney and her cowriters. I usually buy SQL books for reference when I’m doing very specific tasks. When I buy a SQL book I tend to spend a lot of time looking through book indexes for keywords related to a specific problem I’m experiencing. Most of the books on my technical bookshelf are non-SQL books though, like Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and Knuth’s The Art of Computer Programming.

VJ: Please tell us about the enhancements or new features you want to see on XML in next version of SQL Server.
Michael Coles: I’d personally like to see more comprehensive support for the XQuery standard and better overall XML performance. I think over time both of these will be addressed. Keeping in mind the new generation of XML support is only 4 years old, I think it’ll get even better as the features mature and new methods of optimizing XML manipulation and queries. One of the best things I think developers can do is provide Microsoft with plenty of feedback (through the MS Connect website, via user groups, on blogs, etc.) about which XML features they’re using, which features they find most useful, and what they’d like to see improved. This kind of feedback can help get new features and improvements on the SQL Server team’s radar.

VJ: Please share your valuable message for the database Developers
Michael Coles: I think the most important thing is to share your knowledge and experiences with other developers. A lot of the tips and tricks that some developers take for granted aren’t necessarily widely known, and it helps everyone when we contribute to the community together.

VJ: Please tell us about your upcoming books
Michael Coles: Right now I’m finishing up Expert SQL Server 2008 Encryption with James Luetkehoelter. This is going to be the first book that specifically focuses on encryption technology in SQL Server and how you can leverage it to protect your corporate data.

I’m also considering writing a freely downloadable e-book—I still have to work out the details and find the time. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

I would like to thank Michael Coles for sharing his views with us....

60 Seconds with Sugeshkumar Rajendran

60 seconds with Sugeshkumar Rajendran:

Adding the TAG MVP to my name, distinguishes me from other technologists near me.

VJ caught up with Sugeshkumar Rajendran, MVP in SQL Server, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).

VJ: Please tell us about yourself.
Sugesh: I am Sugeshkumar Rajendran, a SQL Server MVP. I have been in IT industry for almost 6 years now. After completing Bachelors in Engineering from one of the reputed institutions in Chennai, started my career in IT as a Junior Systems DBA working for one of the Largest ERP Company as a client. I have worked with various clients as PeopleSoft, Windows and SQL Server Administrator. Currently, I am working as a Full-Time SQL Server DBA for one of the largest financial service providers in the globe.

VJ: What motivated you to become an MVP
Sugesh: Becoming a MVP has always been a dream for me after taking role of a Senior DBA in an IT Services company in India. I started a Blog, website to provide useful information about SQL server and Administration to User community. MVPs are always treated with respect in the community for the knowledge they posses and give to others. I gain and share knowledge by being a MVP.

VJ: Please share with us your journey of becoming an MVP.
Sugesh: It’s a great pleasure being part of this great team of countable MVPs around the globe. It gives us chance to communicate with experts of technologies, answer to questions, and learn new things every day. Adding the TAG MVP to my name, distinguishes me from other technologists near me

VJ: Please tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Sugesh: Attending MVP Summit was a great experience to me. It gave me a chance to know what’s going in the Technology; meeting experts of different technologies, product groups, the session were very useful and informative.

VJ: Any message to the technologists

Sugesh: Innovation is the Key. Think beyond what is possible. Value your time. There is no use in building or enhancing a product or a tool that is already available. Develop something new. That’s where you can prove you are worth more than what others are.

60 seconds with Jacob Sebastian

60 seconds with Jacob Sebastian:

VJ caught up with Jacob Sebastian, MVP in SQL Server, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).

VJ: Please Tell us about your self.
Jacob: I am a SQL Server Consultant based in Ahmedabad, India. I am a Microsoft MVP (SQL Server) and a Moderator at MSDN and Technet Forums. I volunteer with the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) as PASS Regional Chapter Coordinator for Asia and I run a SQL Server User Group in Ahmedabad, India. I am a regular columnist at SQLServerCentral and I blog regularly at http://beyondrelational.com/blogs/jacob/default.aspx. I just completed my first book; "The Art of XSD - SQL Server XML SChema Collections" and I am a contributing author in Paul Nielson's book: "SQL Server 2008 Bibile."I started my database career in the early nineties with Dbase and then moved to Clipper, Foxpro and finally to SQL Server. I have been working with SQL Server for over 11 years starting with SQL Server 6.5. I am a regular speaker at local User Groups and SQL Server Events. I am also a SQL Server trainer and I teach at various SQL Server classes across the country.

VJ: What motivated you to become an MVP
Jacob: I don’t have a clear answer to this question, but I am very grateful to Microsoft giving me the MVP award and my MVP friends who nominated me and supported me always.

VJ: Please share with us your journey of becoming an MVP.
Jacob: I had been contributing to the SQL Server community through my blogs, articles at SqlserverCentral and on the MSDN forums. I think this is what brought me the MVP award.

VJ: Tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Jacob: The MVP Summit experience was great. The most interesting part was the meeting with the SQL Server Product Team. We spent a number of quality hours at Microsoft campus and it was just great.

VJ: Any message to technologists
Jacob: Almost all of us have a very tight work schedule and finding time for learning is really hard. I would like to encourage everyone to plan the schedules in such a way so as to allocate some time for learning regularly.

60 Seconds with Suprotim Agarwal

60 seconds with Suprotim Agarwal:

Every accomplishment starts with the Decision and the Will to try

VJ caught up with Suprotim Agarwal, MVP in ASP/ASP.NET Architecture, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).

VJ: Please tell us about your self.
Suprotim: I am an ASP.NET Architecture MVP and work as an Independent Architect Consultant providing consultancy on how to design and develop .NET centric database solutions. I hold a degree in Computer Management and have been working with .NET technologies ever since its 1.0 beta release, way back in 2000.

I am the founder and primary contributor to http://www.dotnetcurry.com/, http://www.devcurry.com/ and http://www.sqlservercurry.com/. I am also a Top Answerer in the ASP.NET forums.

When I am not exploring a technology, I spend my time watching movies, playing strategic video games and checking out the latest gadgets.

VJ: What motivated you to become an MVP
Suprotim: I have been very passionate about technology. Being the inquisitive type I am, I used to often try out new things in technology and thereby face challenges. Technical communities like MSDN and ASP.NET forums are where I used to find most of the solutions to the challenges I faced. Amongst the answerers, I used to observe people having MVP title’s providing excellent solutions. I felt grateful and obliged for the time these people took out to solve problems of users. This motivated me more than anything else to become one myself.

VJ: Please share with us your journey of becoming an MVP.
Suprotim: In the year 2006, I started giving shape to my motivation and made it a goal. I started actively participating in the MSDN communities and ASP.NET Communities. A year later, I was the Top Answerer at the forums and was made Moderator of MSDN Forums, which motivated me, further. I also started realizing that a lot of people had similar issues and they often felt an urge to use technology to its fullest. However most of them could not find time to do it. Thus http://www.dotnetcurry.com/ was born where I dedicated my time to write articles, tips and tricks about .NET and related technologies. Since I was also inclined towards SQL Server database, I started http://www.sqlservercurry.com/. Microsoft recognized my contributions and me an MVP. I feel proud that I am a Microsoft MVP and hope to continue being one till I retire J

“Every accomplishment starts with the Decision and the Will to try.”


VJ: Tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Suprotim: Rocking! I got to meet technical honchos, each brilliant in their own fields. I also met enthusiasts like you who had the motivation of contributing to the communities in their own way. There were technical sessions, interactions with the product team, feedbacks, group discussions, keynotes from executives and much more, including a Rocking Party! We MVP’s were pampered with good food, comfortable accommodation and free gifts. It was overall a brilliant experience that words alone cannot describe. You got to be an MVP to experience one!

VJ: Any message to technologists
Suprotim: There's a very simple principle that I follow in life and I will take this opportunity to share it with all the readers of dotnetvj.com.

If you dream about doing a lot of things, but haven't been able to achieve much, then you are just a dreamer. Add a date and time to your dreams and that becomes a Goal. And once a Goal is set, do ‘everything’ possible to reach it. During the process, if you start feeling that your goals cannot be reached, do not adjust your goals, adjust the steps taken to reach the Goal. Remember motivation is what gets you started but determination is what keeps you going. So Never, Never, Never give up!

60 Seconds with Pinal Dave

60 seconds with Pinal Dave:
MVP award played an important role in helping me chase my passion to make a difference.





VJ caught up with Pinal Dave, MVP in SQL Server, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).


VJ: Please tell us something about yourself.
Pinal Dave: Well, to begin with, I am a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) with over 6 years of experience as a Principal Database Architect, Developer, Administrator, and Project Manager. I specialize in SQL Server Programming. I am also the founder and a prominent author of SQLAuthority.com. Besides, my passion for writing and sharing my knowledge led me to become a writer and a blogger. I have authored over 900 SQL Server articles at SQLAuthority.com, and I am a regular columnist for several prominent IT websites and magazines.

VJ: What motivated you to become an MVP.
Pinal Dave: I have had ardor to make a difference in technology domain since I started my career. I needed a platform from where I can reach out to more and more people and make significant contribution to the technology realm. MVP award played an important role in helping me chase my passion to make a difference. MVPs are easily accepted in community and they are able to help in a better way owing to their MVP title. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to become an MVP. Today, as an MVP, I am actively involved in community service to teach, learn and transfuse technology to niche areas.

VJ: Please share with us your journey of becoming an MVP.
Pinal Dave: I have been writing for my blog http://blog.sqlauthority.com/ since November 2007. The whole blogging thing initially started as personal bookmarks. Actually, I was learning loads of new things about database and SQL Server. I needed to create some kind of journal or diary to store that valuable information. I finally decided to write what I learnt on my blog and that is how the journey started. Since then, I kept on writing down all my learning and observations on my blog. I have been an active member of Las Vegas SQL Server User Group and later on I became the President of Gandhinagar SQL Server User Group and the Leader of Ahmedabad SQL Server User Group. I have delivered numerous technical sessions in tech and User Group meetings. And it was during the course of my journey that Microsoft recognized my community service and awarded me with MVP.

VJ: Tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Pinal Dave: MVP Summit 2009 was one great event! There are several things about the event worth talking about but I think the best part was the opportunity to do networking with the smartest people on earth. Meeting product group and having one-to-one interaction with them is a rich experience. Imagine that you have been working for years with one technology and there are so many concerns and questions that need to be discussed with people who are actually making the technology. The summit was a great platform to meet SQL Server Product Team and intermingle with them. Additionally, I got the chance to meet some of the renowned MVP Fellows from across the world. It is a good coincidence that I had talked about the same subject in MVP Monthly Hour in March 2009. The topics that I covered there are
· Truly Global Experience – Grand Organization
· Meeting Product Group – Learn Inside Story
· Technical Sessions from Microsoft Experts
· Meeting Heroes of your Expertise
· Networking with Fellow MVPs and MVP Lead
· Career Advancement
· Sightseeing in Seattle, USA
· Microsoft Campus, Redmond
· I'm a PC – All MVPs are PC
· Steve Ballmer – an Energizer Bunny

VJ: Any message to the Technologists
Pinal Dave: For me, MVP is a milestone that comes along in the journey to help community. A true MVP works for sheer passion for technology. There is no real plan of action that one needs to follow to become an MVP. In fact, there are numerous ways through which one can become an MVP. But all of this leads to just one purpose - community service, as said earlier. Just keep up with the good work and soon you will be there.

I would like to share the following image that was taken on the very first day outside the Seattle Convention Center with Vijay (my dear friend), one of the top experts of .NET.

60 Seconds with Tony John

60 seconds with Tony John:
The MVP award made me feel that I am being recognized for what I did for the community.

VJ caught up with Tony John, MVP in Visual Developer - ASP/ASP.NET, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).

VJ: Please tell us about yourself
Tony John:I am Tony John, founder of websites including dotnetspider.com, SilverlightClub.com, AspSpider.com, IndiaStudyChannel.com and few others. I have been working as a software engineer for last 12+ years.

I am from Kerala, but live in Houston Texas.

VJ: What motivated you to become an MVP
Tony John: I am a graduate in teaching before I did my Masters in Computers. I used to love teaching others. I started the community activities back in Chennai several years back with the aim of helping poor students and graduates learn programming. When the number of students increased for my free training, I switched to internet based training and that game birth to my first technology website dotnetspider.com

At that time, I wasn’t aware of the MVP recognition. However, after dotnetspider became popular, one of the active members of dotnetspider referred me for this program and I became an MVP.

VJ: Please share with us your journey of becoming an MVP.
Tony John: It was a great experience to be part of the elite group. The MVP award made me feel that I am being recognized for what I did for the community. It gave me good reputation among my colleagues and friends.

The biggest advantage I have as part of the MVP award is, it helps me a lot to promote my websites. As a Microsoft MVP, other webmasters recognize me and responds to my emails. It was easy for me to sign up for various partnership programs since the MVP label adds more trust to my name. I could make several companies sponsor prizes and awards in my websites using my MVP status.

VJ: Tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Tony John:The MVP summit was a great event. It gave me the opportunity to meet lot of people whom I have otherwise only heard about in the past. I could meet several fellow webmasters there. It gave me the opportunity to talk in person with the core people behind many Microsoft products.

VJ: Any message to technologists
Tony John:My advice to the new members is, focus on the work you are doing without worrying about receiving the award. You must demonstrate technical capabilities as well as willingness to help the community members. I am sure the dedicated work will be paid off and the MVP award will come on your way.

60 seconds with Abhishek Kant

60 seconds with Abhishek Kant
MVPs are champions of community.

VJ caught up with Abhishek Kant, India MVP Lead, to get his view on the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program(MVP).

VJ: Please tell us about yourself.
Abhishek: I work with the Microsoft Technical communities in India to support and encourage them. I am employed by Microsoft and designated as Community Program Manager. I have been a techie part of my life after being trained as a banker in management school.
I blog about technology at: http://www.abhishekkant.net/
I am a gadget freak, enjoy programming in my spare time and love playing on my XBOX360 (gamertag: chints).

VJ: Please tell us about MVP Program and Its importance.
Abhishek: Microsoft community in India has a large presence in form of user groups, forums and blogs. MVP Award recognizes the top community contributors for Microsoft technologies. MVP is a globally recognized award and one that Steve Ballmer, CEO himself keeps a close contact with. MVPs are conscience of Microsoft and provide valuable neutral feedback on all our products. Their feedback (bugs and feature suggestions) is highly regarded by the development teams.
MVPs are champions of community and Microsoft relies on them to guide us in determining what community needs from us. To know about the great work Indian MVPs have been doing, visit:http://blogs.technet.com/southasiamvp

VJ: Please tell us about how to become an MVP.
Abhishek: You can’t take a certification to be an MVP! You have to earn it by working hard in the community and getting recognized as a leader there. The only way one can take the leadership position in the community is by being the most prolific contributor in the community.
You can self nominate yourself for the MVP award by visiting: www.microsoft.com/india/mvp
Make no mistake it is very difficult to become an MVP. We have only 125 MVPs in India and over 4000 world over.

VJ: Please tell us about benefits of becoming an MVP
Abhishek: MVPs enjoy recognition, technical and relationship benefits from Microsoft. Some important benefits are:
The most important benefit to the MVPs is access to all existing and upcoming (betas/ alphas) Microsoft products for free. Microsoft facilitates interactions between product teams and MVPs where they can participate in determining the future of the products.
Access to the wide network of MVPs worldwide provide for excellent networking and learning opportunities that is rare to find in professional world.

VJ: Please tell us about your MVP Summit experience
Abhishek: MVP Summit is a very different experience from regular conferences. Presence of MVPs from over 35 countries under one roof provides valuable learning and networking moments. Personal interactions with Microsoft product teams and candid exchange of ideas are unique features of MVP Summit that make it very valuable. The high point of every MVP Summit is the Steve Ballmer keynote. He is the best speaker I know of in the world.

VJ: Any message to the Technologists
Abhishek: Learning from books is something that we all learnt growing up. What I wish I knew in college was that a person learns more from participating in the community. Community challenges you with real world problems and encourages you to think of real world solutions. I wish I had participated in technical forums early on so that my knowledge would have grown exponentially.
If there is one thing that I would urge all technologists, whatever stage of career you are in at, to do is to start participating in community of interest to you. If you are a Microsoft technologist you definitely want to check out Microsoft Forums.
Communities are where you find the best and brightest of people engaged in world over. An interesting by product of community participation is the global recognition you would gain for yourself.