Siegfried Jagott: Microsoft MVP Interview Part 2
The Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Award is the highest honor that can be awarded annually by Microsoft since 1995. One of those honored is Siegfried Jagott. In the first part of our interview, we learned what Mr. Jagott enjoys doing most in his free time. Click here to go to the first part of the interview. Who is the greatest inspiration for this MVP award winner? What was his most formative experience in the past, and what projects has he planned for the future? All of this and much more can be found in the following second part of our interview.
Interview with Siegfried Jagott – Part 2
How did your interest in Microsoft develop? Who or what particularly inspired you?
I came into contact with MS-DOS computers through my vocational training as an IT business specialist (after I had always been programming on the Commodore 64 up to that point). I started out with MS-DOS 3.30, and then Windows 3.1 came out at some point. Together with Word for Windows, I always found it very interesting and enjoyed working with the graphical user interface. Troubleshooting was especially my thing: At first, mostly printer drivers, and later also issues with the operating system.
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How did you come to focus on Microsoft? Why exactly this area?
I had always liked Windows, but when I came into contact with Windows 95 and found an internal mail system there (based on MS-Mail), I delved deeply into it.
In 1994/1995, email was only available through so-called BBS systems, and these exchanged emails using FidoNet in a ring system. As a result, an email from Germany to the USA usually took 1-2 days, and the reply naturally took the same amount of time to return. Unimaginable today, isn’t it?
I worked for a small software company back then, and we rolled out Windows 95 for them, though it lacked an interface to other systems (which were based on the X.400 standard at the time, not SMTP). To address this, Microsoft released Exchange Server 4.0, which I immediately dove into and was fascinated by the versatility of the email system.
When I was later able to handle a few integrations with Exchange in 1996, such as a Ferrari Fax Connector, and also resolved issues with Exchange Server in Microsoft’s newsgroups – it became clear what I wanted to do: Email based on Exchange Server.
Interestingly, Exchange has continued to evolve since then and has given rise to technologies such as Active Directory (Exchange 5.5 still had its own directory), Exchange 2000 Instant Messaging (which was later integrated into LCS, OCS, and Skype, and now serves as the basis for Microsoft Teams Chat), SharePoint, which originated as a competing product to Lotus Notes databases, and PowerShell, which was introduced with Exchange 2007. But even the first major product of Office 365 – which was previously called BPOS – was Exchange.
So I have been working with Exchange for almost 30 years now, and it is still exciting today: The messaging security aspect of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) is a lot of fun.
What did you originally want to become when you were younger?
I actually wanted to become a train driver or a police officer. My parents wanted me to take over my father’s carpentry business – which unfortunately didn’t work out because my father passed away when I was 10 years old. So I discovered my love for computers as a teenager – and pursued it further.
Funny how life plays out, isn’t it? But I turned my hobby into a profession, and I find it exciting every day to work with IT.
What have been your most important projects in the past?
I believe my biggest personal project in this field was the decision to write a book, which I realized in 2010-2011 with the book “Exchange 2010 Best Practices” published by Microsoft Press. It was already a great feeling to go into a Barnes & Noble bookstore in America and see my book there.
This also had the result that I was invited to speak at the next Exchange conferences – and ultimately appointed as an MVP.Article title: Siegfried Jagott: Microsoft’s MVP Interview Part 2 Excerpt 2 of 2: Additionally, I consider my work for Microsoft Learn – where I was privileged to contribute not only to the official Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) materials for Exchange since 2007, but also to e.g. creating the MCP exams for various products and training videos for Microsoft. This has always been a great honor for me, and I have always tried to structure the training or courses as if I were explaining them to a young colleague. But it wasn’t just Exchange; during that time, I also created courses on Windows Server, Microsoft Teams, and on the topic of Security & Compliance.
When I look back: For Exchange, I have contributed to all Microsoft training and exams, including the latest Exchange Online training – and that for more than 15 years. You can certainly be a bit proud of that, right?
That you definitely can! Which projects have you planned for the future, provided you’re allowed to share a little bit about them with us?
I believe we are facing exciting times in IT right now: Artificial Intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change the way we have worked with IT – and I believe it will be very much to our advantage.
When I think that ChatGPT even knows PowerShell – how cool is that? Have you ever entered “Act as PowerShell” into ChatGPT? That way, you can very easily get Exchange tasks like the creation of databases, and only have to copy the cmdlets into the actual PowerShell.
Do you actually keep in touch with other MVPs around the world?
Yes, of course, we are a “large” family. I stay in touch with many of the German MVPs, and also with the MVP from my award category “M365 Apps & Services”. Back when “we” were still the Exchange MVPs, a deeply “close-knit” bond formed. We usually met at conferences like Microsoft Ignite (where there were always special events such as a breakfast with the head of the Exchange product group) or at the MVP Summit. The Exchange MVPs still hold a joint dinner during the Summit, where we naturally talk about our “baby”, email.
It’s also great to write to other, unfamiliar MVPs and ask for advice, for example – you are never turned away here. Essentially a certain “code of honor”.
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What would you advise a freshly minted MVP Award winner?
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Definitely go to the MVP Summit in Redmond. The most important conference where only MVPs are allowed to attend, but you get direct contact with the product group and thus have your questions and requests answered directly.
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Don’t drive yourselves crazy: Stay present and continue working in the community as before – once you are an MVP, renewing the title is easier than the first time. Believe me: I’ve had the title for 11 years now…
What is the most defining experience from your years as an MVP?
Meeting Satya Nadella at the MVP Summit, when he spoke there in his first year as CEO. And of course, that I was able to meet many “idols” from my early days in IT who are now my friends: Tony Redmond, Paul Robichaux, Marc Minasi, or Mark Russinovich – just to name a few of the “old” guard.
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