Sitecore recently announced six Perficient colleagues have been awarded Sitecore MVP status for 2023. The MVP program is now in its 17th year and recognizes the most active Sitecore individuals from around the globe who share their knowledge with various Sitecore partners and customers. Martin Miles is one of our six 2023 Sitecore MVPs. This is his seventh consecutive year being awarded as a Technology MVP.
As a Sitecore technical platform director, Martin delivers excellent experiences to our clients and is always working for the betterment of his team. He is valued not only for his extensive Sitecore knowledge but also his endless contributions to Perficient’s blogging efforts.
What is your role? Describe a typical day in your life.
I am a Sitecore technical platform director. Every day is unique and unlike the others. I engage in project deliveries and setting up the estimates, participate in sales pitches, perform R&D activities, and my favorite – share the findings via blog. I also take part in some PR work with the wider Sitecore community, as well as mentor two talented people. All of my activity streams assume intensive communication with other members of our business unit and way outside it.
What are your proudest accomplishments, personally and professionally? Any milestone moments at Perficient?
I joined Perficient three months ago so stay tuned for great accomplishments to come. I have already achieved gold status for my blogging contributions (10 serious big blog posts within a month). For the rest of my activity, I focus on Headless and XM Cloud which is something that promises to bring big outcomes within the next 6-12 months.
Outside of Perficient, I am proud to have been chosen (for the second time) to be a speaker at SUGCON EU 2023. This is very difficult to accomplish because of high competition – approximately 20 submissions were chosen out of several hundred proposals.
What does being named a Sitecore MVP mean to you?
It is the recognition of my contributions, heightened by the prestige, which Sitecore intentionally surrounds their Sitecore MVPs with. In the past decade of running my own consultancy business in the UK, being awarded MVP status gave me credibility with existing clients and day-one trust with my prospects. It raises my personal expectations so high that I cannot settle for less. It gives me a sense of professional accountability because I cannot pass by a new feature or learning without blogging about it or making an educational video or post.
In your experience, what does it take to become a successful Sitecore MVP candidate? What three things do you believe a successful candidate must do?
A combination of the triple “co’s”:
- Contribution
- Collaboration
- Communication
These three are the essentials but there is so much more that makes a successful MVP.
What has your experience going through the MVP process taught you?
It’s important to never give up. Never, never, never give it up, whatever happens. Persistency is the way to perfection!
What’s most exciting to you about where Sitecore is headed?
The switch to a composable reality is not something that Sitecore could accomplish in a few days. I admire the way Sitecore wisely arranged its “shopping list” for purchasing a new generation of commerce platforms (OrderCloud and Discover), content management (Content Hub), and CDP platforms for the front line of the SaaS offering. For the second-line products, they bought and rebranded Sitecore Search and Send.
Without any surprise, my favorite is XM Cloud. I have invested time in the XM Cloud platform and can attest to how it simplifies and improves development processes, as well as eliminates lots of unwanted scaffolding work (which each of us had to repeat again and again in past) by automating it into the platform. I will be giving a talk about this in my SUGCON EU 2023 conference speech. It is a big honor to be a speaker at such an event!
Why did you choose Perficient? What keeps you here?
I needed a visa sponsorship in order to get work authorization, despite having already lived in the US and being a legal resident. This requirement disabled 90% of potential job opportunities for me. As a devoted Sitecore professional, I wanted to work legally and perform my job perfectly with constant opportunities for growth.
The credit here goes to Matt Connolly, who believed in me and my chances of getting an O-1 (Exceptional Talent) visa. This challenge took two months of my life and deserves a few blog posts of its own. Perficient offered me a visa sponsorship to the US, and an adequate job description with a growth perspective. What else could be more important to a devoted professional? Perficient 
appeared to be “a 100% company” starting from my initial contact with HR so it was difficult to choose any other place to work.
Why are you #ProudlyPerficient?
The best part about this company is the people. I am serious when I say I have never worked with such an enthusiastic and friendly group of top professionals. Everyone is in the right place and makes the choice each day to commit to their team and work. It seems unbelievable but that’s the truth and I am lucky to be part of it!
What are you passionate about outside of work? What’s something surprising people might not know about you or your background?
I really enjoy traveling. In my life, I have been to more than 100 countries and every one of the 52 in Europe (including those not recognized). I simply cannot stop discovering more and more every time!
Many of my hobbies derive from the place and lifestyle I had prior to my relocation to the US in 2022 – The United Kingdom.
Until I relocated to the US, I never owned a car. Britain has perfect public transportation so there was no need. Instead, I used motorcycles. I had two motorcycles: one for small local commutes and a bigger one for racing and occasional long trips. Motorcycles symbolize the true freedom of movement and opened me up to all the regional beauties of England. It was an easy decision that the first thing I did after my relocation was getting a US motorcycle license.
I am a dedicated Scotch whisky collector and expert. I studied by attending many of the world-recognized distilleries in my favorite region of the world, Scotland. Every distillery has its own “soul of a spirit”, recognizable character, grouped into a bigger set of six geographical regions. I do have a preferred region and most loved brand and year but will not name it publicly – everyone should find their own way into the world of whisky.
Another passion of mine also comes from living by the sea – sailing. I became so devoted to yachting that I decided to master it at the Royal Yachting Association of the UK, where I passed all the exams to skipper and above. It is an unbelievable feeling when coming outside of the harbor into an open sea. You raise the sails and turn off the engine and the silence combined with the wind passing through the sails and pushing your boat to the destination: every time I experience that I feel like it is the first time! With this hobby, it is possible to get a group of friends to share a yacht sailing the Caribbean or along Italy. Modern yachts now accommodate living conditions and other equipment is available at marinas, so this makes for a good vacation with like-minded friends.
Skipper is the captain and commander of a sailing yacht, responsible for a typically $1M yacht. More importantly though – the crew and the passengers who trusted their wellness and life to be a part of a journey under your command. This is a true leadership position and it requires a strong technical background in navigation including night sailing, passage planning, detailed knowledge of the weather and atmospheric conditions, medical help, and knowledge about the yacht itself. It seems very similar to the director position I currently have here at Perficient, which requires strong technical and architectural background combined with a strategic vision, knowledge of sales, and great communication and interpersonal skills.
Both the Skipper and Director can perform these tasks themselves but in practice are unable to unless surrounded by a great team. This proves why I always put people first!
If you had to define yourself using one Perficient value, which would it be and why?
It would be 100% people. The people are what make Perficient great! If you have the right people, then the rest of the list will take care of itself. Without people, none of it makes sense.
