MVPs around the World (2025)

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

31Jul: Moved MVPs per country to bottom and expanded table.

Another year, another Microsoft MVP award cycle. Always a great moment to have a quick peek at the MVP population. Note that this year, this post took a while longer to get published. This is due to the date of awards being announced, as well as the vacation period, which caused delays in people confirming their renewal agreement.

The numbers below are taken from the public MVP portal on July 30th. Comparing them to July from recent years should give an idea of trends and what award categories (and thus products) have focus.

A few notes:

3.589 public MVP profiles were processed. The overall number went up compared to last year. However, compared to the MVPs of June, the overall number went down by 12%.
The award category Mixed Reality has been closed. Have a look at the Sankey diagram further down this article to see where these people went.
The number of countries represented went down when compared to last year.
The number of MVPs with more than one award category has increased by 13%.
The MVP award category with the most MVPs is still the Developer Technologies.

MVP Awardees per Category

The following chart and table display the awardees per award category from 2021 to 2025, plus change percentages compared to previous years.

Award Category	Jul2021	Jul2022	%	Jul2023	%	Jul2024	%	Jul2025	%
AI Platform	138	128	-7%	105	-18%	269	156%	386	43%
Business Applications	323	351	9%	442	26%	474	7%	483	2%
Cloud and Datacenter Management	219	164	-25%	136	-17%	111	-18%	106	-5%
Data Platform	392	364	-7%	335	-8%	307	-8%	329	7%
Developer Technologies	770	715	-7%	747	4%	761	2%	859	13%
Enterprise Mobility	133	149	12%	100	-33%	0	-100%	0	0%
Internet of Things	0	0	0%	43	0%	43	0%	39	-9%
M365	556	492	-12%	541	10%	643	19%	819	27%
M365 Development	69	59	-14%	70	19%	0	-100%	0	0%
Microsoft Azure	534	546	2%	526	-4%	527	0%	539	2%
Mixed Reality	0	0	0%	45	0%	35	-22%	0	-100%
Security	0	0	0%	171	0%	305	78%	349	14%
Windows and Devices	42	45	7%	61	36%	102	67%	133	30%
Windows Development	120	92	-23%	37	-60%	30	-19%	35	17%
Total Categories	3296	3105	-6%	3359	8%	3607	7%	4077	13%
Total MVPs	3223	3023	-6%	3175	5%	3187	0%	3589	13%

Note: The difference between total categories and total MVPs is caused by MVPs that are awarded in more than one category.

Where did they go?

The Sankey diagram below displays the number of awarded categories moving from last year to now. The move is based on the MVP, the categories they had, and the new categories they have currently been awarded in. New awardees are categorized as “New,” and those who are no longer present on the MVP portal (e.g., no longer MVP) are categorized as “Out.”

MVP Awardees per Country

The following chart and table display the awardees per country, plus change percentages compared to July last year. Countries that show a 0 no longer have any published MVPs. This used to be a condensed table, but I have expanded the table and added fun facts such as MVPs per population and area as well, using apicountries.com as a reference.

Country	Was	Now	Change	MVPs per 1,000,000	MVPs per 1,000 km²
Albania	1	1	0%	0,35	0,035
Angola	1	1	0%	0,03	0,001
Argentina	17	19	12%	0,42	0,007
Australia	111	113	2%	4,40	0,015
Austria	32	37	16%	4,15	0,441
Azerbaijan	4	3	-25%	0,30	0,035
Bahrain	1	2	100%	1,18	2,614
Bangladesh	3	1	-67%	0,01	0,007
Belgium	59	64	8%	5,54	2,096
Benin	0	1	100%	0,08	0,009
Bolivia	5	4	-20%	0,34	0,004
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	6	-14%	1,83	0,117
Brazil	127	136	7%	0,64	0,016
Bulgaria	8	8	0%	1,15	0,072
Cambodia	0	1	100%	0,06	0,006
Cameroon	1	3	200%	0,11	0,006
Canada	115	130	13%	3,42	0,013
Chile	4	5	25%	0,26	0,007
China	137	132	-4%	0,09	0,014
Colombia	16	14	-13%	0,28	0,012
Congo (DRC)	4	1	-75%	0,01	0,000
Costa Rica	2	2	0%	0,39	0,039
Côte d’Ivoire	1	1	0%	0,04	0,003
Croatia	13	11	-15%	2,72	0,194
Czechia	26	31	19%	2,90	0,393
Denmark	49	60	22%	10,29	1,392
Dominican Republic	3	6	100%	0,55	0,123
Ecuador	4	4	0%	0,23	0,014
Egypt	8	10	25%	0,10	0,010
El Salvador	2	2	0%	0,31	0,095
Estonia	4	4	0%	3,01	0,088
Finland	33	39	18%	7,05	0,115
France	120	113	-6%	1,68	0,176
Gabon	0	1	100%	0,45	0,004
Georgia	1	2	100%	0,54	0,029
Germany	143	177	24%	2,13	0,496
Ghana	6	6	0%	0,19	0,025
Greece	11	10	-9%	0,93	0,076
Guatemala	1	3	200%	0,18	0,028
Honduras	1	1	0%	0,10	0,009
Hong Kong SAR	6	7	17%	0,94	6,341
Hungary	8	6	-25%	0,62	0,064
Iceland	5	6	20%	16,37	0,058
India	118	147	25%	0,11	0,045
Indonesia	7	9	29%	0,03	0,005
Ireland	32	31	-3%	6,21	0,441
Israel	12	17	42%	1,84	0,818
Italy	69	75	9%	1,26	0,249
Japan	151	164	9%	1,30	0,434
Jordan	1	1	0%	0,10	0,011
Kazakhstan	0	1	100%	0,05	0,000
Kenya	7	8	14%	0,15	0,014
Korea	56	58	4%	1,12	0,579
Latvia	1	3	200%	1,58	0,046
Lebanon	1	1	0%	0,15	0,096
Lithuania	6	5	-17%	1,79	0,077
Luxembourg	1	2	100%	3,16	0,773
Malaysia	7	5	-29%	0,15	0,015
Malta	1	3	200%	5,71	9,494
Mauritius	1	2	100%	1,58	0,980
Mexico	18	21	17%	0,16	0,011
Morocco	4	7	75%	0,19	0,016
Myanmar	1	1	0%	0,02	0,001
Nepal	4	5	25%	0,17	0,034
Netherlands	175	195	11%	11,18	4,659
New Zealand	32	35	9%	6,88	0,129
Nicaragua	3	2	-33%	0,30	0,015
Nigeria	26	23	-12%	0,11	0,025
North Macedonia	5	8	60%	3,84	0,311
Norway	40	50	25%	9,29	0,154
Oman	0	1	100%	0,20	0,003
Pakistan	9	15	67%	0,07	0,017
Panama	3	1	-67%	0,23	0,013
Paraguay	1	1	0%	0,14	0,002
Peru	13	15	15%	0,45	0,012
Philippines	6	6	0%	0,05	0,018
Poland	66	73	11%	1,92	0,233
Portugal	23	25	9%	2,43	0,271
Puerto Rico	1	1	0%	0,31	0,113
Qatar	0	1	100%	0,35	0,086
Réunion	1	0	-100%	–	–
Romania	12	19	58%	0,99	0,080
Saudi Arabia	4	4	0%	0,11	0,002
Senegal	1	0	-100%	–	–
Serbia	7	10	43%	1,45	0,113
Singapore	20	23	15%	4,05	32,394
Slovakia	4	5	25%	0,92	0,102
Slovenia	7	7	0%	3,33	0,345
South Africa	11	14	27%	0,24	0,011
Spain	103	122	18%	2,58	0,241
Sri Lanka	10	10	0%	0,46	0,152
Sweden	80	96	20%	9,27	0,213
Switzerland	53	63	19%	7,29	1,526
Taiwan	45	46	2%	1,96	1,271
Tanzania	1	1	0%	0,02	0,001
Thailand	16	17	6%	0,24	0,033
Tunisia	1	0	-100%	–	–
Türkiye	20	24	20%	0,28	0,031
Ukraine	14	16	14%	0,36	0,027
United Arab Emirates	3	4	33%	0,40	0,048
United Kingdom	273	304	11%	4,52	1,252
United States	489	558	14%	1,69	0,058
Uruguay	2	2	0%	0,58	0,011
Uzbekistan	2	1	-50%	0,03	0,002
Venezuela	1	1	0%	0,04	0,001
Vietnam	5	5	0%	0,05	0,015
Yemen	1	1	0%	0,03	0,002

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below.

MVPs around the World (2024)

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Michel de Rooij

Update: Added Sankey diagram to display award relationships between 2023 to 2024.

Another year, another Microsoft MVP award cycle. Happy to report that yours truly received his 11th MVP Award

As every year, this is also a moment to have a quick peek at the MVP population. The numbers below are taken from the public MVP portal on July 11th. Comparing them to July of recent years should give an idea of trends and what award categories (and thus products) seem to have focus.

A few notes:

3.187 public MVP profiles were processed.
The award categories Enterprise Mobility and M365 Development have ceased to exist and are now expertise areas. Most MVPs who used to be in these categories have moved to the Security and Developer Technologies categories.
More countries are now represented in the program compared to last year.

MVP Awardees per Category

The following chart and table display the awardees per award category from July 2019 to 2024, plus change percentages compared to previous years. Former Enterprise Mobility and M365 Developer awardees have mostly moved to Security and Developer Technologies.

Award Category	Jul2020	Jul2021	%	Jul2022	%	Jul2023	%	Jul2024	%
AI Platform	122	138	13%	128	-7%	105	-18%	269	156%
Business Applications	240	323	35%	351	9%	442	26%	474	7%
Cloud and Datacenter Management	209	219	5%	164	-25%	136	-17%	111	-18%
Data Platform	358	392	9%	364	-7%	335	-8%	307	-8%
Developer Technologies	697	770	10%	715	-7%	747	4%	761	2%
Enterprise Mobility	113	133	18%	149	12%	100	-33%	0	-100%
Internet of Things	0	0	0%	0	0%	43	0%	43	0%
M365	512	556	9%	492	-12%	541	10%	643	19%
M365 Development	64	69	8%	59	-14%	70	19%	0	-100%
Microsoft Azure	463	534	15%	546	2%	526	-4%	527	0%
Mixed Reality	0	0	0%	0	0%	45	0%	35	-22%
Security	0	0	0%	0	0%	171	0%	305	78%
Windows and Devices	43	42	-2%	45	7%	61	36%	102	67%
Windows Development	110	120	9%	92	-23%	37	-60%	30	-19%
Total	2931	3296	12%	3105	-6%	3359	8%	3607	7%
Count	2849	3223	13%	3023	-6%	3175	5%	3187	0%

Note: The difference between total awards and total MVPs is caused by MVPs that are awarded in more than one category.

MVP Awardees per Country

The following chart and table display the awardees per country, plus change percentages compared to July last year.

Country	No.(change)	Country	No.(change)	Country	No.(change)	Country	No.(change)
ALB	1 (0%)	SLV	2 (0%)	MKD	5 (0%)	SVK	4 (100%)
AGO	1 (100%)	EST	4 (300%)	MYS	7 (16%)	SVN	7 (16%)
ARG	17 (30%)	FIN	33 (6%)	MLT	1 (100%)	ZAF	11 (0%)
AUS	106 (-3%)	FRA	117 (-2%)	MUS	1 (100%)	ESP	100 (12%)
AUT	31 (-7%)	GEO	1 (100%)	MEX	18 (5%)	LKA	10 (11%)
AZE	4 (100%)	DEU	138 (6%)	MAR	4 (100%)	SWE	77 (1%)
BHR	1 (0%)	GHA	6 (-15%)	MMR	1 (-50%)	CHE	52 (4%)
BGD	3 (-25%)	GRC	11 (120%)	NPL	3 (-25%)	TWN	44 (-5%)
BEL	58 (-2%)	GTM	1 (0%)	NLD	174 (4%)	TZA	1 (100%)
BOL	5 (66%)	HND	1 (0%)	NZL	32 (-20%)	THA	16 (45%)
BIH	6 (-15%)	HKG	6 (0%)	NIC	3 (200%)	TUN	1 (0%)
BRA	124 (0%)	HUN	8 (-12%)	NGA	25 (38%)	TUR	20 (-5%)
BGR	7 (-30%)	ISL	4 (0%)	NOR	39 (-12%)	TGO	0 (-100%)
CMR	1 (0%)	IND	114 (40%)	PAK	9 (80%)	UKR	13 (44%)
CAN	113 (-7%)	IDN	7 (-13%)	PAN	3 (200%)	ARE	3 (50%)
CHL	4 (0%)	IRL	31 (-9%)	PRY	1 (0%)	GBR	272 (5%)
CHN	132 (0%)	ISR	12 (-15%)	PER	13 (0%)	USA	481 (1%)
COL	16 (14%)	ITA	68 (3%)	PHL	6 (-15%)	URY	2 (100%)
COD	4 (100%)	JPN	146 (-12%)	POL	65 (8%)	UZB	2 (0%)
CRI	2 (0%)	JOR	1 (100%)	PRT	22 (4%)	VEN	1 (0%)
CIV	1 (0%)	KAZ	0 (-100%)	PRI	0 (-100%)	VNM	5 (0%)
HRV	13 (-14%)	KEN	7 (133%)	REU	1 (100%)	UZB	2 (0%)
CZE	24 (-20%)	KOR	54 (-17%)	ROU	11 (-43%)	VEN	1 (0%)
DNK	47 (4%)	LVA	1 (-67%)	SAU	4 (-20%)	VNM	5 (0%)
DOM	3 (-50%)	LBN	1 (100%)	SEN	0 (-100%)	YEM	1 (100%)
ECU	4 (0%)	LTU	6 (200%)	SRB	7 (40%)
EGY	8 (100%)	LUX	1 (0%)	SGP	19 (35%)

MVP Awards from 2023 to 2024

The Sankey diagram below displays the number of awarded categories moving from 2023 to 2024 (click to zoom). New awardees are categorized as “New,” and those who are no longer present on the MVP portal (e.g., no longer MVP) are categorized as “Out.” Note that new awardees getting awarded in multiple categories are counted as new for each category; in other words, there are not 632 new MVPs awarded this cycle.

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below.

Security Updates Exchange 2016-2019 (Aug2023)

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Michel de Rooij

Last update Oct10: Added note about TokenCacheModule.

The Exchange product group released August V2 updates for Exchange Server 2016 and 2019.

The vulnerabilities addressed in these Security Updates for Exchange Server are:

Vulnerability	Category	Severity	Rating
CVE-2023-21709*	Elevation of Privilege	Important	CVSS:3.1 9.8 / 8.5
CVE-2023-38185	Remote Code Execution	Important	CVSS:3.1 8.8 / 7.7
CVE-2023-35368	Remote Code Execution	Important	CVSS:3.1 8.8 / 7.7
CVE-2023-38182	Remote Code Execution	Important	CVSS:3.1 8.0 / 7.0
CVE-2023-35388	Remote Code Execution	Important	CVSS:3.1 8.0 / 7.0
CVE-2023-38181	Spoofing	Important	CVSS:3.1 8.8 / 7.7

*) Requires additional steps; See below.

The Security Updates for each supported Exchange Server build are linked below:

Exchange	Download	Build	KB	Supersedes
Exchange 2019 CU13	Download	15.2.1258.25	KB5030524	KB5026261
Exchange 2019 CU12	Download	15.2.1118.37	KB5030524	KB5026261
Exchange 2016 CU23	Download	15.1.2507.32	KB5030524	KB5025903

CVE-2023-21709

CVE-2023-21709 requires additional steps, which need to be performed after installing the August updates. These steps will remove the TokenCacheModule from IIS, preventing IIS (thus implicitly Exchange) from caching security tokens for password-authenticated sessions (Anonymous, BasicAuth, and Client Certificates) at a performance penalty as every request needs to get re-authenticated. Documentation on these steps, as well as a script to implement or undo these changes, can be found here.

Update October 10: Removal of TokenCacheModule is no longer recommended, as the vulnerability has been addressed in a Windows patch, CVE-2023-36434.

AES256 in Cipher Block Chaining mode

After installing these August updates, AES256-CBC will be the default encryption mode. In order to allow decrypting of Microsoft Purview Information Protection or Active Directory Rights Management Services, additional configuration is required. If you utilize RMS with Exchange on-premises, consult the steps in this KB article.

Issue with Non-English Operating Systems

The issue with the initial release of the August 2023 SU’s has been fixed in the V2 versions. Take note of the What-if table in the August SU V2 publication on how to proceed if you already installed V1 using the workaround. TLDR;:

If you installed V1 successfully (English OS), no action is needed, and installing V2 is optional (will only increase Exchange build numbers).
If you installed V1 on a non-English OS with the workaround, uninstall August SU V1, restart, install August SU V2, and clean up the workaround (dummy ‘Network Service’ account)
If you did not install V1 on a non-English OS or tried installing without success and re-enabled services using ServiceControl.ps1 -AfterPatch, install the August SU V2 update.

Right after the release of the Security Update, reports came in from customers with failed deployments for non-English operating systems. Installing the SU failed, leaving their Exchange server in a non-functional state as Exchange-related services were disabled. After Microsoft investigated the issue, it was found the SU installer uses the textual “Network Service” security principal during configuration. This does not work in other languages, where it needs to be the localized name, e.g. Netzwerkdienst (German) or SERVICE LOCAL (French). Using the well-known SID for this service principal (S-1-5-20), or using this to look up the actual name, would be the way to address this. This is also what the workaround in the support article is basically doing:

~~Restore the startup state of Echange services using $exscripts\ServiceControl.ps1 AfterPatch.~~
~~Creating a dummy “Network Service” account.~~
Manually add Full Control on the ACL of HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSIPC\Server for the ‘real’ Network Service security principal, which is what the SU should be doing. Under this key is where licenses used for Azure Information Protection are stored.

While having a workaround helps, it is not very maintainable, which is why I expect Microsoft to publish an update for the Security Update. Also, the whole situation gives to think about the mindset of developers who apparently only test using English operating systems. With still significant on-premises Exchange presence in countries such as Germany and France, making code OS language-independent and having it tested could use improvement.

Fixed Issues

Apart from security fixes, these Security Updates also correct the following issues:

Issue Fixed	Exchange 2016	Exchange 2019
DST settings are inaccurate after an OS update	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Exchange replication service repeatedly stops responding	Yes	Yes
Chinese coded characters aren’t supported in Exchange Admin Center	Yes	Yes
External email address field doesn’t display the correct username	Yes	Yes

Notes

Security updates are Cumulative Update level specific. You cannot apply the update for Exchange 2019 CU13 to Exchange 2019 CU12. When downloading, the security update will carry the same name for different Cumulative Updates, and I would suggest tagging the file name with the CU level when archiving it, e.g., Exchange2019-CU13-KBXXXXXX-x64-en.msp.
Similar to Cumulative Updates, Security Updates are cumulative, and you only need to install the latest SU for your CU.
If you have installed the Exchange Management Tools separately for managing your on-premises Exchange Servers or installed it after removal of the Last Exchange Server for recipient management, it is recommended to apply the Security Update.

On a final note, as with any patch or update, I’d recommend applying this in a test environment first prior to implementing it in production. However, it is not recommended to wait for regular maintenance cycles when it concerns security updates and follow a more agile approach; the ratings are an indication of the urgency.

MVP’s around the World (2023)

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Michel de Rooij

Another year, another Microsoft MVP award cycle. Happy and proud to report that yours truly received his 10th MVP Award. Thank you!

This is also a moment to have a quick peek at the MVP statistics. Below numbers are taken from the public MVP portal. Normally, notifications are sent out on July 1st, but this year we had a small delay. In anticipation of awardees also needing some time to accept their Non-Disclosure Agreement terms, these numbers are taken from July 18th. Comparing them to July of recent years should give an idea of the yearly trend, as people can get awarded every month. The yearly award cycle in July will logically see a drop.

Few points of attention:

Out of the 3.175 MVP’s published on the MVP portal, 142 do not disclose location, so those are not represented in below numbers.
New categories Security, Mixed Reality and Internet of Things were added.
New categories might result in MVP’s switching when those are a better indication of their community work.
Overall, more countries are now represented in the program compared to last year.
Numbers do not reflect changes throughout the year. The drop from just before the award cycle, which showed 3.440 MVP’s, is not visible.

MVP Awardees per Category

The following table contains the awardees per award category from July of 2019 up to 2023, plus change percentage.

Expertise	Jul2019	Jul2020	%	Jul2021	%	Jul2022	%	Jul2023	%
AI	84	122	45%	138	13%	128	-7%	105	-18%
Business Applications	166	240	45%	323	35%	351	9%	442	26%
Cloud and Datacenter Management	232	209	-10%	219	5%	164	-25%	136	-17%
Data Platform	332	358	8%	392	9%	364	-7%	335	-8%
Developer Technologies	644	697	8%	770	10%	715	-7%	747	4%
Enterprise Mobility	106	113	7%	133	18%	149	12%	100	-33%
Internet of Things	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	43	0%
M365 Apps & Services	491	512	4%	556	9%	492	-12%	541	10%
M365 Development	47	64	36%	69	8%	59	-14%	70	19%
Microsoft Azure	409	463	13%	534	15%	546	2%	526	-4%
Mixed Reality	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	45	0%
Security	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	171	0%
Windows and Devices for IT	57	43	-25%	42	-2%	45	7%	61	36%
Windows Development	119	110	-8%	120	9%	92	-23%	37	-60%
Award Count	2687	2931	9%	3296	12%	3105	-6%	3359	8%
MVP Count	2634	2849	8%	3223	13%	3023	-6%	3175	5%

Note: The difference between total number of awards and total number of MVP’s is because an MVP can be awarded in more than one category.

MVP Awardees per Country

The following table contains the awardees per country, plus change percentage compared to July last year.

Country	No.(change)	Country	No.(change)	Country	No.(change)
Albania	1 (0%)	Honduras	1 (100%)	Paraguay	1 (0%)
Argentina	13 (-14%)	Hong Kong	6 (100%)	Peru	13 (0%)
Armenia	0 (-100%)	Hungary	9 (0%)	Philippines	7 (-13%)
Australia	109 (-2%)	Iceland	4 (-20%)	Poland	60 (13%)
Austria	33 (13%)	India	81 (0%)	Portugal	21 (16%)
Azerbaijan	2 (100%)	Indonesia	8 (0%)	Puerto Rico	1 (0%)
Bahrain	1 (0%)	Ireland	34 (9%)	Romania	19 (11%)
Bangladesh	4 (-34%)	Israel	14 (7%)	Saudi Arabia	5 (0%)
Belgium	59 (7%)	Italy	66 (4%)	Senegal	1 (0%)
Bolivia	3 (0%)	Ivory Coast	1 (0%)	Serbia	5 (66%)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7 (16%)	Japan	165 (0%)	Singapore	14 (0%)
Brazil	123 (-9%)	Kazakhstan	1 (0%)	Slovakia	2 (0%)
Bulgaria	10 (0%)	Kenya	3 (300%)	Slovenia	6 (-25%)
Cambodia	1 (0%)	Korea	65 (10%)	South Africa	11 (-27%)
Canada	121 (-5%)	Latvia	3 (-25%)	Spain	89 (14%)
Chile	4 (-20%)	Lithuania	2 (0%)	Sri Lanka	9 (-31%)
China	131 (24%)	Luxembourg	1 (0%)	Sweden	76 (0%)
Colombia	14 (0%)	Macedonia	5 (0%)	Switzerland	50 (25%)
Costa Rica	2 (-34%)	Malaysia	6 (-25%)	Taiwan	46 (12%)
Croatia	15 (-7%)	Malta	0 (-100%)	Thailand	11 (10%)
Czech Republic	30 (-4%)	Mauritius	0 (-100%)	Netherlands	167 (12%)
Denmark	45 (18%)	Mexico	17 (-11%)	Togo	1 (100%)
Dom. Republic	6 (-15%)	Morocco	2 (-50%)	Tunisia	1 (-50%)
Ecuador	4 (100%)	Myanmar	2 (-34%)	Turkey	21 (10%)
Egypt	4 (0%)	Nepal	4 (-20%)	Ukraine	9 (-25%)
El Salvador	2 (0%)	New Zealand	40 (0%)	UAE	2 (-60%)
Estonia	1 (-50%)	Nicaragua	1 (100%)	UK	258 (8%)
Finland	31 (10%)	Nigeria	18 (50%)	USA	472 (1%)
France	119 (8%)	Norway	44 (12%)	Uruguay	1 (0%)
Germany	129 (4%)	Pakistan	5 (-17%)	Uzbekistan	2 (200%)
Ghana	7 (0%)	Palestine	1 (0%)	Venezuela	1 (100%)
Greece	5 (25%)	Panama	1 (0%)	Vietnam	5 (0%)
Guatemala	1 (-50%)

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below.

MEC Airlift 2022 #WeAreMEC

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Michel de Rooij

It seems ages ago – 8½ years to be exact – that the most recent Microsoft Exchange Conference took place in Austin in 2014. Much has happened since then, Exchange Online became a thing and there seemed to be no need for Microsoft to host an Exchange themed conference any longer. All this while events around products such as SharePoint did not slow down a single bit.

Then the pandemic happened, and we went to zero in-person conferences. It did not take long online/virtual/digital conferences took off. But alas, no Exchange conference. Until 2022 arrived, and Microsoft announced continued commitment to Exchange on-premises. Now, early in the FY22/23, a free 2-day online event will take place on September 13th & 14th, the Microsoft Exchange ~~Conference~~ Community Technical Airlift 2022. Target audience are IT professionals working with Exchange Online/On-Premises as well people developing solutions that integrate with Exchange. While nothing comes close to the experience and value of an in-person event, MEC 2022 will take place online. I am guessing that if this event is a success, and there is enough content to talk about as well as interest, that might switch to becoming at least a hybrid event, with a mix of an in-person and online audience, similar to Microsoft Ignite this year.

The agenda for MEC 2022 looks very promising, with sessions from both the Exchange product group as well as some very smart people from the Exchange community. Not totally surprising, there are sessions on the demise of Basic Authentication and how to deal with that, hosted by Greg Taylor. Also have a look at Scott Schnoll’s famous Exchange Tips & Tricks, or Jeff Mealiffe talking about connectivity. The event kicks off with a welcome keynote with Perry Clarke and Rajesh Jha. You can still submit questions for this “Geek Out with Perry!” here.

Yours truly will also present at MEC, presenting “Bringing your Exchange Scripts into the Modern Age” on September 14th, 9:00am PDT. Note that MEC sessions will be recorded, and will be made available for on-demand viewing after the event, which is great in case you cannot attend sessions as they happen. You can still register for MEC at https://aka.ms/MECAirlift.

If I do not “see” you at MEC, there is also an opportunity to have an in-person chat next week in Atlanta, where I will be attending – not presenting as I missed the submit deadline – The Experts Conference, or just TEC. It seems you can still register, but Anyway, it is good to see Exchange themed events pick-up and confereces in general returning to a certain level of pre-pandemic numbers, as there is enough to talk about, discuss and learn from others.