"If you build it, they will come" - Ray Kinsella, Field of Dreams
I've been a big fan of not building something you think people need, but rather working with them, getting feedback along the way, and tailoring your efforts to something that works well for the user. There are exceptions, but for the most part I think that if you are building a product you need to work with your audience, get feedback and thoughts from them, and adjust your product as you proceed.
I saw a note recently from Kalen Delaney on the Value of an MVP, where she talks about how she used to look forward to the MVP Summit so she could learn more. More about SQL Server, about plans for the future, and increase her knowledge. The last few years it's been more of a feedback mechanism for the product developers where they are looking for input from the MVPs in terms of how SQL Server should evolve.
I tend to agree with Kalen in that I look forward to learning more from Microsoft at these events as opposed to being just asked for feedback. After all, I tend to view the developers at Microsoft as the experts on what a database product needs to do, and how it works, but perhaps that's not correct?
Should we be leading the way more in terms of the development of SQL Server? Do you think Microsoft should be responding to the feedback we provide, or innovating by brainstorming up new ways in which SQL Server can grow and then educating us?
I think there's a balance there, and all development should have some feedback from the public, but once a feature is being built, the developers on Microsoft really need to become the experts and educate us about how they work. Or at least how they should work in theory :)
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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