The Top 10 Microsoft SharePoint MVPs

Most of our readers will understand the term ‘most valuable player’ or ‘MVP’ in relation to the best player during the NFL, MLS or NBA season. The Most Valuable Professional award is Microsoft’s own take on an MVP, and is given to the brightest minds in selected fields. An awardee would be heavily involved in the Microsoft community, having contributed substantially to all things Microsoft:

“...community leaders who’ve demonstrated an exemplary commitment to helping others get the most out of their experience with Microsoft technologies. They share exceptional passion, real-world knowledge, and technical expertise with the community and with Microsoft.”

Much like in the NFL or NBA, there is no benchmark for becoming an MVP. It is a comparative award, in the sense that the award is given to the top performers amongst all candidates. Like the NFL would measure a Quarterback’s passing accuracy or completion percentage, some of the criteria that Microsoft takes into account is the impact of a nominee’s activities in online forums: Microsoft Answers, TechNet and MSDN, wikis and online content; conferences and user groups; web sites, blogs and more. Each nominee’s activities are compared to those of other candidates, and active MVPs receive the same level of analysis as new candidates each year.

There are currently over 100 candidates that hold the sought-after title of Microsoft MVP. However, even in a sea of Microsoft masters there’s always a bigger fish. We wanted to address the cream of the crop of Microsoft MVPs, and to do such we needed some form of categorization to decide who exactly were worthy of the top spots. We thought social influence was the best method of deciding this, and so we turned to Kred and their influence measurement system. “Kred Influence Measurement” is an openly-published algorithm that calculates a twitter user's influence based on the level of interaction they generate from their own content.

“Kred” values engagement and interaction over follower count, and this makes us different from traditional "most tweets" leaderboards.

Kred Influence is displayed as a point based score out of 1000, with points being awarded every time someone interacts with your content. These points come on a sliding scale, so if someone with 10,000 followers retweeted you it would count considerably more compared to someone with 200. This gives much more substance than a standard “who has the most followers” approach, and so will give a better reflection of who truly has the most impact on our social media lives.

So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 SharePoint MVPs! 

1. Dan Usher

FairFax, VA

@binarybrewery

Topping our list with a Kred score of 899/1000, Dan Usher earns the number 1 spot for all Microsoft MVPs. His second MVP award in consecutive years, Dan is a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton where he is a lead SharePoint Solutions Manager and Architect. Congratulations Dan!

2. Dux Raymond Sy

Washington, DC

@meetdux

Our runner-up is Dux Raymond Sy, author of “SharePoint for Project Management”. Dux is the vice president for customer strategy & solutions of AvePoint Public Sector, focused on delivering strategic customer solutions that impact positive transformation. Dux had a Kred Influence score of 836.

3. Marc Anderson

Boston, MA

@sympmarc

The bronze medal goes to Marc Anderson, Co-Founder and President of Sympraxis Consulting LLC. Over 30 years of experience in technology professional services and software development earned him a Kred Influence rating of 829, allowing him to add 3rd place in our list to his array of accolades including 5 Microsoft MVP awards since 2011.

4. Christian Buckley

Seattle, WA

@buckleyplanet

Clinching 4th place is the Chief Marketing Officer at Beezy Inc. Christian was instrumental in the acquisitions of two SharePoint ISVs: echoTechnology and Axceler. He previously worked at Microsoft as part of the enterprise hosted SharePoint platform team. Christian achieved a Kred score of 825, and has the most followers out of anyone on this list with a massive 19,800.

5. Fabian Williams

Washington, DC

@fabianwilliams

A Kred Influence score of 797 landed Fabian Williams with the no. 5 spot on our list. He is a SharePoint Architect at Planet Technologies, Inc. in the Federal Information Worker Practice. This is Fabian’s second consecutive Microsoft MVP award and you can check out his blog here.

6. Laura Rogers

Birmingham, AL

@wonderlaura

Laura is a senior SharePoint consultant at Rackspace and has 12 years of experience in SharePoint implementation, training, customization and administration. She has written several SharePoint books, works extensively with SharePoint Designer workflows, and builds no-code business solutions making her an all-round SharePoint guru.

7. Andrew Connell

Saint Johns, FL

@andrewconnell

A Kred Influence Rating of 784 earned Andrew the 7th spot on our list. With 11 consecutive MVP awards since 2005, Andrew has a background in content management solutions and web development that spans back to his time at the University of Florida in the late 1990s, giving him a lifetime of experience.

8. Spencer Harbar

Edinburgh, UK

@harbars

The 8th member of our Top 10 SharePoint MVP list is Spencer Harbar, the only person to hold all of the Microsoft Certified Master, Certified Solutions and Certified Architect SharePoint certifications. Spencer earned a Kred Influence score of 777, but compared to his 20 years of industry experience and an incredible 12 consecutive Microsoft MVP awards since 2004, we don’t think he’ll get too worked up about it.

9. Wictor Wilen

Sweden

@wictor

Wictor has been working with SharePoint since 2001 on collaboration, document management and intranet/extranet solutions. He has released one book: “SharePoint 2010 Web Parts in Action” and is a co-author to “Inside Microsoft SharePoint 2013”. Wictor’s Kred Score of 772 earns him the final spot on our list.

10. Kanwal Khipple

Toronto, Canada

@kkhipple

The final spot on our list goes to Kanwal Khipple, who actually has the most Twitter followers on our list with a massive 25,300 followers. Kanwal is the Founder of 2toLead and is a leading UX expert within the SharePoint industry, and earned a Kred Influence Rating of 771.

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