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The Top of the Mark - Volunteer Award is awarded to Kaliyan Selvaraj who currently works as a Technical Consultant for Microsoft Enterprise Solutions for Dell India. He has a degree in Computer Technology and is a Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist. Kaliyan says “When I was hunting for my first job, I got an idea to start an association for IT Professionals who are able to network with each other.” Kaliyan formed the Bangalore IT Pro User Group with 32 members, which has grown to 1740 members. He then went on to form the BITPro User Group with the help of the local Microsoft team. He is now part of Global UGSS (user group support service).
Interview with Kaliyan Selvaraj
Christine Carter, San Diego Network Professional Association
The Top of the Mark - Volunteer Award is awarded to Kaliyan Selvaraj, who doesn’t take the beaten path but forges a new one! Born and raised Kattupaiyur, a village in India, he was the first person from the village to complete Computer Technology training. Kaliyan started his career as a laborer and slowly changed his path to Information Technology. His first real IT job was as a Data Entry Operator, followed by an Electrical Supervisory position, then EDP In-change, MIS -coordinator, Regional IT Executive, Systems Manager, and Technology Specialist. He currently holds a position as Technical consultant for Microsoft Enterprise Solutions for Dell India. With a diploma in Computer Technology from IGNOU of New Delhi, he is also a Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist.
Kaliyan credits his success to the Bangalore IT Pro User Group Network. “When I was hunting for my first job, I got an idea to start an association for IT Professionals who are able to network with each other, this idea I got from my old experience - I was the village youth association leader.” Kaliyan formed the Bangalore IT Pro User Group with 32 members, which now grown 1740 members. That is quite an accomplishment. He didn’t stop there, but went on to form the BITPro User Group with the help of the local Microsoft team. With Microsoft’s advice and support, he is now part of Global UGSS (user group support service).
Educating 1000 IT professionals each year by conducting monthly user group meetings that assist with finding the right IT job, Kaliyan says “being a manager of Bangalore IT Pro user group, I have created a network with many IT companies in Bangalore and across India.” This network is a great resource when he works with these professionals.
Besides being the Co-founder & Manager of Bangalore IT Pro User Group, Kaliyan serves as an IT Pro Group Leader at Culminis and SQL PASS. He is also still very active with BITPro User Group. To capture more events on Information Technology, go to: https://www.bitpro.in, where critical information is made available to the IT Pro.
This is not the first award for this outstanding professional. In 2003, while working for a cargo company as Regional IT Executive, he succeeded in migrating an ERP application from DB2, Oracle to VB6.0 and SQL Server. As the first person to implement this project in the south region, he was awarded the best Regional IT Award from the company. In 2005, Kaliyan received Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional Award based on his contribution to the IT community.
When asked what the best new technology is, Kaliyan replied, “Unified Communications and Virtualization. These not only have great technical impact by increasing efficiencies in the way we work but they also help reduce the cost of investment which is really important in this tough economy”.
In his spare time, Kaliyan loves providing answers to newsgroups, online tech forums, and maintaining his technical blog at https://kaliyans.spaces.live.com. He cherishes every moment of his married life with Shivaganavalli. His dream is to become part of the Microsoft Corporation and to make his village an IT Park.
Kaliyan has selflessly given time, effort, guidance and resources to his community and peers. The combination of his ideals of professionalism and what he provides for others and is the perfect example of a ‘Top of the Mark – Volunteer’. Congratulations Kaliyan! We honor you and support your dream.
