Microsoft is making some major changes to its long-running Most Valuable Professional influencer program. The company will now focus that program on members who help developers and IT professionals. The other MVP members will now be under their respective product teams under new, and as of now unrevealed, influencer programs.
According to what a Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet:
"The MVP program started off as a consumer influencer program but has, over time, become more Developer and IT Professional focused. We are now formalizing this change by having the Xbox, ID@Xbox, Bing Ads and Windows & Devices Award Categories supported directly by the product teams."
The program started in 1993. Microsoft has designated non-company employees to be MVPs if they are highly active in their product community, such as writing and helping others on message boards, writing articles and books on Microsoft products and services and more. ZDNet reports there were about 4,000 Microsoft MVPs as of October 2015.
The report does say that Office-based MVPs will remain with the core program as they usually help out IT employees and developers.
