In this blog series, we’re interviewing the Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) that work at ANS.
Dan Barber is Director of Digital at ANS and has been a valuable member of the ANS community for just over a year. Dan comes wealth of experience ranges from tech consulting, to working for Hitachi and building its practice as it is today, to being CTO at Cloud9, to finally arriving at ANS, just to name a few. We sat down with Dan to discuss all things tech, imposter syndrome, and much more!
If you could create a new Microsoft Office feature, what would it be and why?
One feature that I would love to have in Microsoft Office is a single-pane view of all the actions and tasks that are assigned to me or that I need to do across different platforms. Whether it is in Planner, e-mail, or Teams, I want to see everything in one place and avoid missing anything important. Sometimes people send me requests or reminders through instant messaging, but they get buried and lost in long conversations. Then I have to search for them and waste time. So a single pane view of all my tasks would be very helpful.
What’s your favourite keyboard shortcut and how has it changed your life?
A keyboard shortcut that has changed my life is Windows key and V, which opens a paste clipboard. Unlike the usual control copy and control paste, this shortcut lets you access all the items you have copied recently. This saves you time and hassle from switching between windows and copying each item individually. You can simply copy everything you need first, then use Windows key and V to paste any item from the clipboard. I learned this shortcut only a year and a half ago, and I wish I knew it sooner.
If you could have a conversation with Clippy, what would you ask it?
Are you proud of your grandson?
What’s the most creative use of Excel you’ve ever seen or done yourself?
One of the most impressive examples of Excel wizardry I ever encountered was from a client who used to produce crane parts for construction projects. They had operations in dozens of countries and sourced their parts from multiple suppliers, which meant they had to deal with different pricing strategies and currency fluctuations. To manage this complex situation, they created a massive Excel spreadsheet that could calculate the optimal price for any part, depending on where it came from and where it was going. The spreadsheet had a simple interface that allowed the user to enter some basic information and get the result instantly.
However, behind the scenes, it was a maze of formulas, macros, and pivot tables that handled all the variables and scenarios. It was a masterpiece of Excel engineering, but it was also becoming slow and unstable due to the sheer amount of data it had to process. We were hired to help them migrate their system to a more modern and scalable application, but we were amazed by what they had achieved with Excel. It showed us how creative and resourceful people can be when they use the tools they know to solve their problems.
If you could travel back in time to witness the creation of any Microsoft product, what would it be and why?
One Microsoft product that I would love to witness the creation of is the original Windows, when they introduced the user interface. It was a revolutionary change from the command line interface, and it opened up new possibilities for computing. The concept of Windows and overlapping windows was so innovative and futuristic at the time. I think it would have been amazing to be part of that space.
What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on this year?
One of the most exciting things that I’m working on this year is Copilot, a powerful AI tool that helps me with various tasks and projects. I know it might sound like a boring answer, but Copilot is genuinely transformative. The introduction of AI into our world is that game-changing. It’s like when we moved from command line to a user interface with a mouse.
Copilot is infused in everything now. It makes me more efficient, more creative, and more productive. It saves me hours of work and gives me inspiration. It helps me overcome writer’s block when I need to create new content. It can touch every facet of my personal and professional life. For a long time, AI has been around, but people have been either unaware or afraid of it. But now, AI is becoming accessible and useful. It’s an amazing technology that I’m thrilled to be part of.
What advice would you give to others who are wanting to go down the MVP path?
The MVP is a very special award. I didn’t set out to win this award. I was just doing what I love: working in the community, coaching, and helping others. I’ve been doing this for years, without expecting any recognition or reward. It was actually one of my friends, Tricia, who saw the value and impact of my work and pushed me to showcase it to Microsoft. I was surprised and humbled by her gesture. I didn’t think I had done anything special or extraordinary. But apparently, Microsoft did. They saw my passion, my consistency, and my contribution. And they decided to honour me with the MVP award.
So my advice to anyone who wants to follow this path is simple: don’t chase the award. Chase your passion. Do what you do best. Share your knowledge. Help others. Be yourself. The MVP award is not a goal or a target. It’s a recognition and a celebration of your work. It’s a way of saying thank you for making a difference. If you do that, the MVP award will come to you naturally.
What do you think is the main benefit to the customer of being an MVP?
I would say the main benefit to the customer of being an MVP is the network that you create. And I don’t just mean with Microsoft, although that’s amazing too. I mean, I can literally pick up the phone and speak to the people who built Copilot, for example. I can ask them for advice on how to solve a specific scenario with their product. I have a direct line to God, almost.
But what’s even more amazing is the MVP community and the extended Dynamics Power Platform community. They strengthen that network even more. I can reach out to hundreds of people who are incredibly talented and knowledgeable in different areas. I talk a lot about impostor syndrome, because it’s something that challenges me every day. One thing that helps me cope with it is the fact that I don’t need to know everything. I’m surrounded by a network of people who can fill in the gaps for me. And I can do the same for them. My skills and knowledge overlap with theirs, but also complement them. We all help each other and learn from each other. And I think that’s the biggest benefit to the client, because they get access to a pool of expertise and experience that is unparalleled.
Being an MVP can be quite stressful, I imagine. What keeps you motivated to avoid fatigue and burnout?
A big part of coping with stress is relying on the network that I’ve mentioned before. You know, being realistic about what you can and cannot do, and focusing on your strengths and passions. You don’t have to be an expert in everything. You can deepen your knowledge and skills in the areas that you love, and that will benefit your network as well. And in turn, you can leverage their expertise and experience to fill in your gaps.
I’m very protective about my work time. I work from 9:00 to 5:30 like a possessed man.and I hardly every work in the evenings and never work on weekends, that’s family and personal time. I do my social and community activities outside of those hours, because I enjoy them. You have to protect your balance. You can’t know everything. There are people who try to follow every tweet or post. They scroll through thousands of messages, trying to catch up on everything. But that’s impossible and exhausting. It’s important to recognise that you can’t do everything. Set yourself realistic goals and targets for what you want to learn.
What would you like to see improved in the MVP programme?
One thing that I think could be improved in the MVP programme is the access to more of the licenced technologies. As MVPs, we are supposed to be advocates and enthusiasts for Microsoft technologies, but we often don’t have enough access to them. This makes it harder for me to showcase the capabilities and benefits of the technology that I’m passionate about.
I would appreciate it if the MVP programme could provide us with more ready and early access to the technologies so that we can champion them better. To read more about all the Microsoft MVPs at ANS, click here.
