In May, Microsoft launched our Global Cloud Skills Challenge. Each challenge required participating MVPs to complete 40 modules on the Microsoft Learn platform. In this blog, we’re looking at three MVPs who used their expertise and talents to advance their careers through gamification.
Live Like You’re Playing Xbox
Bruno Barrette is a living embodiment of Microsoft Xbox 360’s famous notification, “Achievement Unlocked.”
In the month of May alone he earned 42 badges and 13 trophies while completing the Microsoft Azure Data & AI Challenge, which he documented on episode 52 of his YouTube channel “du Bracket Show,” and on his blog of the same name.
Although his blog and YouTube show are in French, Barrette’s training materials found in links on his blog are in English and can be utilized to learn about multiple features of the Azure software from introductory concepts to more advanced techniques, including how to program bots and utilize the software’s computer vision capabilities.
Always in Beta
After meeting her husband, moving from Colombia to the United States, a new baby on the way, and a global pandemic beginning to unfold, Diana Carolina Torres Viasús decided to become a tech influencer for Microsoft and start a blog. Her motto? “Siempre en Beta.”
Torres explains in a LinkedIn publication that this phrase means that each day she always tries to be the best version of herself. When participating in Microsoft’s MVP program this past spring, she provided guidance to her fellow employees by creating a Summer Learning Path that can be utilized to learn about Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365.
While preparing for the challenge, Torres notes she was encouraged to create a telephone workshop with her friends from Women’s Voice IT, “[una] comunidad fundada en el 2020 liderada por mujeres MVP, para representar la voz femenina en el mundo de la tecnología.” (“[a] community founded in 2020 led by MVP women, to represent the female voice in the world of technology.”)
As a new mother, Torres says that her giving birth and making the switch to remote learning in the last year have been challenging to keeping a consistent training and work schedule, but she is still happy and productive.
“Mi pequeño compañero esta muchas veces en frente de la pantalla conmigo y aveces despues de jornadas agotantes cada día, una taza de chocolate caliente y un buso calientito (hoodie) acompañan mis noches de Mama Geek,” she writes.
(“My little companion is many times in front of the screen with me and sometimes after exhausting days, a cup of hot chocolate and a warm hoodie accompany my Mama Geek nights.”)
Un Paso a La Vez
Christian Abata’s blog details how he took the MVP challenge “One Step at a Time,” about how this step-by-step process helped him grow his career “from 0” to where he now has helped companies in for over 1,000 employees in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Mexico, United States, Spain, and Australia as a Power Automate (RPA) Expert, Power Apps and Azure consultant, Digital Transformation Microsoft 365 Expert, and AI Developer.
He earned his certification in Power Platform Fundamentals, as a Power Platform Functional Consultant, Power Platform App Maker, and Power Platform Developer. Abata has also earned certifications in Microsoft 365 fundamentals and is a certified Azure AI Fundamentals/Azure Administrator. He has also completed the MS 100 Certification exam.
