Microsoft Virtual Academy -An Overview

Microsoft Virtual Academy is a website for Developers and IT Pros offering free Microsoft training delivered by experts .

Microsoft Virtual Academy – MVA is a cloud-based learning experience focusing on Microsoft Technologies. You can access a variety of training content online to assist you in becoming one of the renowned experts in the IT Pro and developer communities around the world. MVA provides its users with a virtual university experience: the students can select a course and study the material and then complete the self-assessment. Students on MVA can get access to information and training on the latest Microsoft technologies to help prepare them to maintain a long-term relationship with Microsoft. Learning through MVA is free of charge, and you can study any time at your own pace.

The MVA platform is hosted on the latest Microsoft Azure technology, which provides a responsive online learning experience!

Microsoft Virtual Academy has thousands of courses on various technologies, at various skill levels and in various different forms – Live Events, Videos, PowerPoints, PDFs, etc.

Here’s a link to some of the most popular courses right now:

• Windows Azure Security Overview
• C# Fundamentals for Absolute Beginners
• Developing in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 Jump Start
• Windows Azure Web Sites - Deep Dive Jump Start
• Building Business Apps with Visual Studio Lightswitch
• Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Applications Jump Start
• Microsoft Azure Developer Camp: Build a Cloud-Native App
• Getting Started with PowerShell 3.0 Jump Start
• Building Apps for Windows Phone 8 Jump Start
• Building Web Apps with ASP.NET Jump Start

But if you’re after a particular topic or product, you might prefer to search through the Courses page for a specific topic that interests you.

Check it out and keep up to date with the changes being rolled out across various products.

This is great way to learn new products and do get some practical expect of it. Since this is a common learning area we can't complain about how the material has been provided. if you are at expert level it would little annoying to read each line but at the same time it helps beginner. There are some time it has glitch and all but it can be corrected if you know what you are learning. I would prefer to go through books first and then try to do labs which helps a lot and you can do some extra things as well.

I love MVA... can't complain!

I have completed one course on cloud recently "Introduction to Private,Hybrid and public Cloud "

Post completion you will get point which will add to your current ranking on portal .

You will get a transcript "certificate" for course completion ,something like this :

For more information visit : http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com

Feel free to ask any query related to this !!
Thanks for visiting ....

“Netiquettes Desk ” -Effective Phone Conference -For IT Professionals

During a conference call you hear someone say “What an idiot! Can you believe he actually said that?”… And then you hear the moderator requesting all to mute the phones!

Sounds familiar?

Regardless of whether a meeting is held in-person or over the phone or video, good etiquette shows respect to meeting participants as well as demonstrating professionalism and due consideration for the meeting topic or issue. Good conference call etiquette is essential for a successful and efficient meeting. Several factors such as the participants location whilst taking the call and background noise are vital to having a clear and productive conversation. Good etiquette often involves keeping distractions to a minimum and communicating effectively.

Phone Conference Etiquette :

Keep track of conference call dates/times : Make sure you know when your conference call is. Also ensure everyone needed to attend the meeting knows the date, time, Venue,  phone number and PIN

Call in to the conference line a couple minutes early. Try to avoid being late, especially if you know you will have to contribute to the discussion. No one wants to be the reason why the conference call discussion is held up, because they are waiting for you to arrive.

Be prepared to discuss the topic at hand. Agenda is a must. Do a little prep work or jot down questions that you would like to bring up on the conference call. After all, you want the meeting to be productive and not spawn other meetings because of lack of preparation. Send out the materials, if any, to the participants a day in advance so that they come prepared too.

Pay attention!  If someone asks you a question on a call and you don’t realize they are talking to you until the end of their question, it will be obvious that you weren’t paying attention. Don’t be the one who always has to ask the person to repeat their question, because SOMEBODY wasn’t paying attention.

  Mute your phone when you are not speaking

    Muting your phone will help you avoid embarrassing sighs, munching noises from eating your lunch, or other background noise.

Keep background noise to a minimum

Noise may be from standing outside in the wind, typing on your computer, pets barking just to name a few. It is best to find a quiet location for the meeting.

Be sensitive to the tone of your voice

Do not sound overly anxious, aggressive or pushy. Make sure your tone conveys authority and confidence. Don’t lean back in your chair when speaking.

Speak Clearly

Enunciate your words clearly while slightly smiling. Speak slowly; the person on the other end of the phone conversation needs to understand you.

State your name before speaking

State your role, company, or location after your name; This will help better understand the context of your comments

Define a clear leader / moderator of the call

The leader should be the ones that emails out the agenda ahead of the call, directs the conversation, makes sure everyone sticks to the agenda, pays attention to time, and sends any follow up action item emails or additional meeting invites.

Recap & send MOM

Before adjourning, do a quick recap to be sure that each participant knows what’s expected of him/her. Send out the minutes of meeting within 24 hours.

We are starting with an initiative “Netiquettes” in my organisation . This initiative will help each of us to improve on our common unintentional communication errors. This is very important initiative .

As we are spread across global locations, classroom training is not a feasible option, hence we have opted for such  initiative.

Few of my articles related to corporates Etiquettes are as below 

Instant Messaging & Social Media Etiquettes 

Please intiate such learning ideas within your team if you are working globally  and help yourself  in improving your communication skills. 

Thanks for reading !! good byee ....