Monday interview with content contributors from Southeast Asia (2/3) - Nguyen Thuan and Fiqri Ismail

Today is the second of a 3-part interview (Part 2 & 3 on 20/aug, 27/aug) and the we are honoring an energetic group of content contributors from Southeast Asia.
They are the MVPs from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

In part 2 of this trilogy, Tiffena interviews Vietnam MVP Nguyen Thuan and Sri Lanka MVP Fiqri Ismail.

 

Vietnam MVP Nguyen Thuan

Who are you, where are you, and what do you do? What are your specialty technologies?
Thuan: I'm Thuan, 22 years old, a SharePoint MVP (2011, 2012), and proud of being a Vietnamese guy. Currently I'm working for a SharePoint global consulting firm located in USA, which delivers SharePoint consulting and training services. Currently I'm responsible for driving the expert level of SharePoint knowledge throughout the company, managing SharePoint development center, performing infrastructure architecture design and training my SharePoint team.
 
I have interest in SharePoint Infrastructure, Administration, Implementation Process, Microsoft Security and Identity technologies such as Active Directory Federation Services, Active Director Right Management Services.

What are your big projects right now?
Thuan: I'm planning a project of Active Directory synchronization to Office 365. Another intesting project is performing a health-check SharePoint system. Moreover, as a part of my job, I'm writing a SharePoint course for Functional testing team. This is actually a challenge; however, my passion on SharePoint keeps me running over times.
 
As you know Microsoft recently has released SharePoint 2013 Preview, I'm considering to write my first book covering SharePoint 2013 Document Management System, or something I have not reasonably found out yet :-D. Writing a book helps you improve not only writing skills, brainstorming skills, but also your specialization skills which require you having to dive into much more time for your book.
 
In terms of community development, I'm planning for the 5th SharePoint Saturday Vietnam which will only cover SharePoint 2013. I think people here will be really excited when seeing new features on SharePoint 2013 phenomenally. Additionally, I'm considering inviting SharePoint experts in South East Asia region to come to Vietnam to share their great experiences.

Besides your work on TechNet Wiki, where do you contribute?
It's hard to tell you that I have concentrated on only one place when it comes to community. I write SharePoint articles in my blog (https://thuansoldier.net), also keep contributing in my child (https://SharePointVN.NET) which is the biggest SharePoint knowledge for Vietnamese, covering over 400 SharePoint 2010 articles spreading various aspects of SharePoint. I also have participated in the biggest SharePoint Vietnam forum (https://sharepointvietnam.net) as Super Moderator, responsible for helping members solve their issues on SharePoint, answering any questions related what I have specialized in.
 
I also help people by sharing my ideas in Microsoft Social TechNet. Check my profile out if you would want to know my ideas. (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/thuan%20soldier/). Some communities I have contributed SharePoint articles:
- NothingButSharePoint.com (ITPro Channel): The largest SharePoint Community on the Internet covering End-Users, Developer and ITPros.
- SharePointEduTech.com: A big SharePoint community in UK
- ICT24H.NET: A big Information Technology & Communication forum in Vietnam, covering Microsoft technologies
 
I use Twitter (https://twitter.com/nnthuan) to tweet all great SharePoint-related articles. And I sometimes answer in LinkedIn

What are your favorite Wiki articles you’ve contributed?

Thuan: My favorite article in Wiki here: (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/10527.sharepoint-working-with-documents-stored-in-a-sharepoint-site-using-document-connection-en-us.aspx). There are very few articles about Document Connection in SharePoint context. What I would like to tell you that even if you use MacOS, you will be able to work on SharePoint. Take a look at how Document Connection helps you via my article.

What are your top 5 favorite Wiki articles?

Thuan: Any Wiki article is great and all are my favorite articles. The following articles which attract me:
- SharePoint 2010 Best Practices (en-US): https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/8666.sharepoint-2010-best-practices-en-us.aspx
- AD FS 2.0 Content Map: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/2735.ad-fs-2-0-content-map.aspx
- Cloud Computing Security Architecture (IT Pro Perspective): https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3794.cloud-computing-security-architecture-it-pro-perspective.aspx
- Blueprint for Private Cloud Infrastructure as a Service: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/blueprint-for-private-cloud-infrastructure-as-a-service.aspx
- Private Cloud Planning Guide for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4622.private-cloud-planning-guide-for-infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas.aspx
 
I wish I could list more than 5 favorite articles :-D.

Who has impressed you in the Wiki community, and why?
Thuan: Ed is the first guy I would like to tell you and Margriet Bruggeman. She has shared many great articles on TechNet Wiki, and many many people who have shared in the TechNet Wiki.
 
What does success look like for TechNet Wiki?
"Grow, grow and grow". That's what I do want to say.

 

Sri Lanka MVP Fiqri Ismail

What are your big projects right now?
Fiqri: I'am translating ASP.net MVC based articles to local Sinhalese language for www.asp.net site. It’s
in progress and I’m hoping to get the first batch out before the first week of
August (my office work dragging me behind on this sigh!!!)

Besides your work on TechNet Wiki, where do you contribute?
Fiqri: I'am one of the organizers for the monthly User group meeting events for Sri Lanka .Net Forum

What is TechNet Wiki for? Who is it for?
Fiqri: The general understanding of TechNet Wiki is that it is a technical site and one needs to be an experienced developer or a technie to understand the content.
Most beginners I have met usually shared the same thought.
What I normally say to them is that ‘TechNet Wiki is not for developers, it is for people like you to get started and to be a good developer. "

What do you do with TechNet Wiki, and how does that fit into the rest of your job?
Fiqri: I look for help, mostly for a quick reference or to copy and paste a code snippet. 

What does success look like for TechNet Wiki?
Fiqri: Having more localized content for the community! 

 

Interview by: Tiffena Kou
Edited & published by: Peter Geelen