Share via

Interview with a BizTalk MVP Wiki Ninja!!! - Sandro Pereira

  • Article

We're continuing our Monday series, "Interview with a Wiki Ninja!" Today's ninja is Sandro Pereira!

Sandro Pereira (Profile)

Microsoft BizTalk MVP, Microsoft Partner (Devscope)

What Sandro has to say about Wiki is an interesting thought...

" ....beginning I was a little reluctant in contributing to the TechNet Wiki, most likely because I had low expectations about the wikis model in the past. However recently we implemented this concept internally at DevScope where had to contribute with some articles and I started to notice many advantages and side-effects of this concept. It was just a matter of time for me to begin contribute and be the author of some articles on TechNet Wiki too."

Sandro Pereira lives in Portugal and works as a BizTalk consultant at DevScope (www.devscope.net). In the last few years has been working implementing integration scenarios and Cloud Provisioning at a major telecommunications service provider in Portugal. His main focus is on Integration Technologies where is been using .NET, BizTalk and SOAP/XML/XSLT since 2002.

He is an active blogger (https://sandroaspbiztalkblog.wordpress.com/), member of BizTalk Brazil Community (https://www.biztalkbrasil.com.br/), member and moderator of MSDN BizTalk Server Forums, Code Gallery contributor and was awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for BizTalk Server by Microsoft since 2011 (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Sandro.Pereira).

Steef-Jan: Who are you, and what do you do?

Sandro:  I’m 33 years old, I live in the beautiful region of Porto in Portugal and from a very early age I got a passion for technology and especially for computers, I still remember with some nostalgia the days of my Timex, Commodore Amiga and Pascal. I started my professional career as a Java, C++ and C# developer and then as a Web project manager. In 2005 I decided to accept a new challenge and joined DevScope as BizTalk consultant and currently also as BizTalk Project Manager. DevScope is a company specializing in business intelligence solutions, systems integration, CRM and collaborative portals based on Microsoft technology and predominantly active in the industrial, financial and public sector.

As a consultant, my job allows me to play almost all BizTalk profiles: as a BizTalk Architect I advise my clients about BizTalk infrastructure environments and design integration solutions; as a BizTalk Developer implementing integration scenarios (EIA, B2B and BPM); and often as BizTalk Administrator performing BizTalk administration and audit environments. In the last few years I have been designing and implementing integration scenarios and Cloud Provisioning at a major telecommunications service provider in Portugal.

I’m an active blogger (https://sandroaspbiztalkblog.wordpress.com/), member and moderator of MSDN BizTalk Server Forums (English forums, Portuguese Forums), Code Gallery contributor, TechNet Wiki author and Microsoft BizTalk MVP (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Sandro.Pereira) since January 2011.

In 2011 I was invited by Ruth Resende, BizTalk MVP from Brazil, to be a member of BizTalk Brazil Community (https://www.biztalkbrasil.com.br/) and also invited to contribute to a Portuguese magazine (Programar) about technology where I have been contributing, assiduously, with articles in Portuguese about BizTalk.

Ruth Resende and Sandro during MVP Summit 2011.

Also in 2011 I started doing book reviews and I’m currently doing a technical review on new book "BizTalk Server 2010 Cookbook" by a very promising author you may already heard of!

In my spare time: I enjoy traveling with my girlfriend, she is a big support in my life; play soccer with my friends; go to the cinema; read technical literature and write in my blog about BizTalk.

Steef-Jan: That is great! How did you become an MVP? Do you have any suggestions for other community members who hope to eventually become MVPs?

Sandro: First I have to thank José Antonio Silva because if I'm a MVP today he is undoubtedly a major factor, it was he who encouraged me (almost forced me) to start contributing to the community. One day in mid-2008, he came to my side and told me I had reached a certain level in my career that I should start giving to the community what she had given me all these years, I complained a bit at first saying that I had no time, but I accepted the challenge and after a week I already had created and started blogging in my personal blog “Sandro Pereira BizTalk Blog” which I described it as “My notes about BizTalk Server” because it was intended, and still is, to serve as my public notebook about BizTalk. I personally use it as a reference and often end up linking many answers to it. If I see a recurring problem/question pop up, I end up writing something about it so that search engines can better match how others are trying to find a solution to their problem.

This passion for sharing my knowledge with others began to grow to the point of becoming a hobby. A year later I started to participate in BizTalk forums, at the beginning with my own questions, until I found that I could answer many of the pending questions also. It was very satisfying the feeling and naturally the achievements started to give an even bigger sense of accomplishment. I was really proud the results at the end of the year, and for me being an MVP was a distant dream.

In January, 1 of 2011 I had the honor of being nominated BizTalk MVP which was an unexpected good surprise. Extremely delighted, I became even more active on my blog and forums and I started to get more involved in the Portuguese communities making BizTalk presentations and articles for magazines, leading me to be awarded again this year.

I think there is no magic formula to become an MVP, I do know a couple of excellent contributors in other areas, that were never awarded. The only thing I can say is that it takes a lot of effort and dedication, but more importantly than that, is that you have the feeling to be a well-respected community member and especially the feeling at the end of the day when we receive the gratitude of a person who you have never known and hope that one day the dream becomes a reality.

Steef-Jan: That's true it takes dedication. What do you do with TechNet Wiki, and how does that fit into the rest of your job?

Sandro:   I confess that in the beginning I was a little reluctant in contributing to the TechNet Wiki, most likely because I had low expectations about the wikis model in the past. However recently we implemented this concept internally at DevScope where had to contribute with some articles and I started to notice many advantages and side-effects of this concept. It was just a matter of time for me to begin contribute and be the author of some articles on TechNet Wiki too.

Initially and along with Ruth Resende I decided to fill a gap in TechNet Wiki corpus: the lack of BizTalk articles or documentation in Portuguese. This year, I already contributed with three articles and ended up joining the BizTalk Wiki Ninjas, also in English.

The Installing BizTalk Server 2010 in a Basic Multi-Computer Environment article.

Another reason that led me to start contributing was the interaction I had with one of my clients, they asked me to document a certain BizTalk installation process and in the end they told me to write in my blog about this, challenge that I accepted quickly. But to achieve the same level of interaction I had with my client, this article could not be just on my blog and only Wiki allows this level of interaction.

I think that all platforms have their purpose, Blogs and magazines are good to share information and express the point of view of the author, however has the disadvantage that its contents are immutable or changeable only by the author and reaches maybe a few thousand people. MSDN library is a great place to check “the source”, but again no one can change the content. Forums are great for helping people obtain answers and links to their problems. TechNet Wiki complements the previous ones and one of the greatest advantages is that anyone can pick up an article, fix it or add relevant content to the topic, making it always up to date.

TechNet Wiki also allows us to cross-reference with other sources and somehow link all the documentation, so together with the other tools it is contributing and growing the public knowledge base.

Do you have a question for Sandro Pereira? Leave a comment!

- Ninja Steef-Jan (Blog, Wiki, Twitter, Profile)

Comments