Born to Learn - Latest Comments in Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

skingston — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:02:00 -0000

Mr. Erwin Chan,

Do you have any update regarding the Plastic Wallet Cards? When will they be available?

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Craig — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:55:03 -0000

Dont forget the Earth ends on Dec 23rd 2012, I doubt the worthless VBC's will be ready by then.
I want a WALLET CARD!!!!!!!!!!! Simple and plain I show my client and move forward. MS has a long history of changing phone numbers, websites, opening websites, closing websites I could go on and on. The one thing I could count on was pulling my MCSE card out of my wallet when I needed it and showing a client.
I have at leat 10 Microsoft created trinkets sitting in my office that someday will get tossed into the garbage but the WALLET CARD does not fall into that catagory? How can the MS management even consider the wallet card as non green, its is like my Social Security Card I would never toss that in a landfill. This just makes me VERY angry at MS.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

skingston — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:45:49 -0000

Erwin Chan,

What is happening with the plastic wallet cards? In another forum you said that you will have an update in January 2010.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Beshoy_MCSE — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:38:47 -0000

I got a certificate (MCSE 2003) and I want to plastic wallet cards
because of all the business owners want to make sure this certificate has become very difficult, particularly in Egypt

Please reply

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:19:25 -0000

December 8th!

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Comp_Junkie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:06 -0000

I think they look really good.. wondering if a launch date has been scheduled......

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:56 -0000

I made the post today (about an hour ago): http://borntolearn.mslearn....

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Andrew — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:21 -0000

It's surprising that up to date we have nothing even in the distant horizons! If MS has followed all the comments on this blog such as those by Dronzer001, Ken, Mike etc, you will see that the VBCs will just serve as a consolation. This means that even though we are looking forward to VBCs, some MCPs do not think VBCs will do a good job as did Wallet Cards. Now as a consolation , it's more than two months from mid August and yet there is deafening silence about when the VBCs will debute!

Just like many others here, I do not want to be a spoilt brat, always whining about the lack of that and this, but I just wonder what kind of example is being set here. The MCP program is huge and globally respected. We are not MS employees but we in some way market the company. So one would think a lot of caution should be exercised in transtioning from one platform to another. The absence of wallet cards and/ or VBCs can be likened to downtime, much like the recent CompTIA's database transtion that left candidates in the dark! As an IT Pro we are taught to avoid and / or lessen downtime. Microsoft has brilliant project Managers who should have made a good estimate of how long the transition from Wallet cards to VBC will take. August is long gone and there is still no date in sight, not even a long range one! It means we are in for a long wait, starting from a date in the future! Could it be possible to revist the wallet card issue? Like making them available until the VBCs will be ready because it is clear VBCs may not launch for weeks/ months to come though we currently need something to use. I am thinking reviving them, even for a fee should take shorter time than building the new VBC Platform.

Erwin, are we going to have the launch this year? If the new VBC platform will be unavailable until; next year, how are you going to mitigate the problem (like finding alternatives if any)?

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Craig — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:21:13 -0000

Enough is enough either get it done or allow us to have WALLET cards until you can get your act together. I agree with Sergio, Microsoft could stop giving out trinkets and toys and drastically eliminate landfill problems compared to a wallet card this is ridiculous

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Marcanomany — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:58:46 -0000

You got a nice blog up there.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

dronzer001 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:05:15 -0000

.............................
...........................
Hey ANDREW....... Can i get ur email ID...
It will be Very nice talking 2 u..
Mine is "dronzer_001@yahoo.in"

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Andrew — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:53:24 -0000

Thank you so much Erwin, I think all the MCPs on this site are now seeing that their comments are falling on open ears! Of course it is of paramount significance that we engage into a health exchange of comments, questions and views, avoiding vulgar language.

Meanwhile am waiting for your promise Erwin, about the launch date. Please do remember we have run out of time. Keep us abreast to avoid speculations.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:20:45 -0000

I've forwarded your comments (and others) on to others in the group so they can see how much people like yourselves want a solution. I'll continue to prod them on your behalf so we do something that'll help you out.

For you and others who aren't happy - please continue to speak out on this blog and comments. I'm reading these comments every day and people within Microsoft Learning are hearing it as well. Obviously we can't react to every single request, but we won't know what's on your mind if you don't voice it! All I ask is that you keep your comments respectful and professional, but we want to hear what you have to say, positive or negative!

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Andrew — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:33:09 -0000

Thanks Dronzer001. Erwin as you are already aware this gropu of MCPs here expect you to help. By now you could have seen how much valuable Wallet cards were to some MCPs. Make no mistake though that the Wallet Cards were only valuable to Africans and Asians, it may be just that in those continents, Internet access is not as widespread and as affordable as it is in Western World. Wallet cards still or maent a lot to MCPs in the Western world. Yes, there may have been those who did not value them, but why would MS discontinue them for everyone?

Come to think of, it was not a good decision because paper certs which were calready available for download continues to ship if only a shipping fee is paid while Wallet cards which are equally valuable cannot be shipped even for a fee. Wallet cards are not as likely as paper certs to fibd themslves in a dump so it's had to believe they were discontinued purely for 'green' reasons. I think of the two, the cert and the Wallet card, wallet cards costed MS more dollrs to prints compared to paper certs so MS knew where the most saving would be realide. This is just a guess anyway, I am as baffled as everyone as to why our nice little rectangular 'buddy' was delt a blow so suddenly.

Anyway now you have seen how the cards were valuable. It was really handy as all you did was to pull it out and the client says well, 'you are rerally certified compared to 'or the that transcript can be printed by anyone, it's not hard to forge that. By the way MS Wallet cards just oozed out integrity, everyone could see that the cards were genuine! As an option for MCPs, there wont be 'green issues' because you can't through it away after paying for it's shipping.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

dronzer001 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:12:47 -0000

I Completely Agree With "ANDREW"........
I Live in INDIA, n VBC have Hardly any Value Here.
Wallet Cards are the Whole n Sole for the MCP's like me...
And Most of the Times it gets really very difficult for us to proove our certification without wallet Cards..
B'coz, nobody is interested in wasting time on internet, just for confirming our credentials ...

U mentioned abt the orange transcript........But the thing is its not as handy as the Wallet Cards are.
Plz Man ..... Try 2 bring wallet cards back.

Just Keep yourself in our Place n try 2 feel the PAIN,that we r feeling right now.

Try 2 bring it Back or atleast Bring any justified Alternative for it.
PLz ERWIN.......
You are like an only Hope for us man...

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:30:12 -0000

Again, I really can't speak about the decision and the process leading up to the decision of making welcome kits virtual. I think one of the most valuable contributions to this blog is the feedback we've gotten from all of you about how valuable wallet cards are to some people, especially people in Asia and Africa.

We aren't asking you use VBCs or your online transcript to show to your hiring manager. At VBC launch I'll make a post identifying best practices on what asset you should use for different situations. In those cases where you need to ID your credentials in an interview, I suggest you use the orange transcript. It has watermarks and everything and it is the one verifiable document we have.

We have been looking for a bit at on demand print jobs of wallet cards similar to how we do the certs right now (you know we offer to print your certs professionally for $10 including worldwide shipping? Compared to your $60 shipping for your shipping it's good and trust me, this is not a for profit venture. Our fulfillment vendor is doing it just to offer MCPs and MCTs a service). The issue with the on demand print jobs for wallet cards is that the printing process is a little more complicated, especially with storing a supply of plastic material. But we'll continue to take a look at it.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Andrew — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:17:04 -0000

If there were people who did not value the wallet cards then it was not a good decision to discontinue them for all MCPs. The best you could have done is to make them optional just like the way you have done with paper certs. So one would choose to order paper certs only or with wallet cards. I DO NOT think those who do not value the wallet cards would pay for their shipping!

If you really want to punish those who still want the wallet cards then charge them for the wallet cards as well as for shipping and I bet, people will still pay. Right now I only have two wallet cards and it feels as if I only have two certs because I do not feel too good with the walletless certs esp when am asked to show evidence of my certification by way of a walletr card. This VBC thing wont help much. Consider Africa and much of Asia, there are many companies that are very good employers but does not seem to value any web presence. They do not even have a website and you will find that they do not have much to do with Internet. You may find this funny, but my friends from some parts Asia and Africa will tell you it's true. In most of the developing countries thee is no ecommerce, the companies do not sell stuff through the internet. These countries still rely on Microsoft products and so employ a great number of MCPs. My point is Internet use is very limited so to rely on it for credential verification is a huge mistake and it will disadvantage many MCPs, and this worsened by very very slow internet connections!

To make matters worse, the VBCs will not be printable. It's just not practical for a hiring manager to start googling the Microsoft website and entering codes and transcript IDs to verify candidate certification status. The easy way is for each to show a high quality wallet card in a few seconds and save time for things that matter. Please bring the Wallet cards as an option for those who want them. It will add value to our credentials.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Sergio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:04:20 -0000

Yes if you consider faster shipping to Europe

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:01:03 -0000

Is a Cisco wallet card really $60??

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Sergio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:58:24 -0000

I paid $60 to get a new copy of cisco wallet card.
I would pay the same (or more) for the Microsoft one, is it enough? :)

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

zumoha — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:52:08 -0000

Erwin Chan,

Thank you for your detailed response. I would say that output to PDF will be ok, but I think that the majority of the people might end up voting for printing templates for business card formats.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Erwin Chan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:33:41 -0000

I was not involved in the decision to discontinue the wallet cards so I can't speak for them. However, I will say that we get a huge number of people getting certified each year and a vast majority of them don't value their wallet cards. This results in a significant amount of waste in terms of printed paper, printed plastic card, and shipping. We felt that we have enough online assets in terms of identification that for the majority of people out there, a virtual welcome kit would as welcomed as a paper version.

However, I recognize that a lot of people here are very passionate for the wallet card and I've looked into bringing it back on a limited basis for people like yourselves. To give you a behind the scenes look, I've talked to our original vendor who printed and shipped the welcome kits, but the issue becomes how to scale up what will be an on demand print job. I'll also take a look at converting VBC into a wallet card replacement - the issue here is that we didn't build high res images into the tool which is required for printing. The other issue (and I would like your thoughts) is that we'd have to incorporate a bunch of printing templates for business card formats (like Avery in the US). Do you think that is necessary or if we just output to PDF it'll be ok?

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Sergio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:14:28 -0000

I think that all here would pay an extra for Real wallet card to help the Green Cause :)

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

zumoha — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:58:33 -0000

Erwin Chan:

Why are you saying, "VBCs won't replace wallet cards." If they are not being replaced, then why are we not getting them anymore. Microsoft employees can start donating part of their salaries to these environmentalists, but please don't discontinue the plastic wallet cards. We already paid for the plastic wallet cards by investing time and money getting MS certifications.

Re: Where are the Virtual Business Cards?

Ken — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:05:07 -0000

So months go by without the promised 'replacement' for the real wallet cards. Is this another part of the 'going green' strategy - to save the '1's' and '0's' from being wastefully used to show off the multitude of worthless mcitp and mcts certifications? It really is not so much the lying that m$ engages in that bugs me - it is the holier than thou hypocrisy that appears to come in the new employee packet upon entering redmond. Maybe Vista Millenium Edition will make it all better.