Data-Driven's Microsoft Gold milestone

In February 2021, Data-Driven announced that it had earned Microsoft Gold status in the Cloud Platform competency.

This page preserves that milestone. It does not claim that a legacy Gold competency is a current Microsoft credential.

What the announcement recorded

The original announcement thanked Data-Driven’s Azure data engineers and customers. It said the competency process included Microsoft exams, certified team members, customer references, and technology and sales assessments.

The competency supported the company’s work with Azure data platforms, analytics, and cloud applications at that time.

Rodney Joyce, Data-Driven’s Managing Director, said:

“Obtaining Microsoft competencies is for Data-Driven a testimony of our strong commitment to building innovative enterprise data solutions aligned to the Microsoft platform. We are very proud of receiving our 3rd Microsoft Gold Competency and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

The partner program has changed

Microsoft retired legacy silver and Gold competencies on September 30, 2022. It replaced them with Solutions Partner designations.

Microsoft’s current partner program FAQ explains the transition and the present designation model.

A Gold badge from 2021 should therefore be read as historical evidence. For current due diligence, verify the partner’s active designation in the relevant solution area.

How the milestone related to delivery

The announcement connected the competency to work on modern Azure data platforms. One example was Data-Driven’s Data Foundation approach, which started with a bounded use case and combined architecture, security, governance, monitoring, and deployment practices.

Those capabilities should be assessed through a current scope, named delivery team, architecture, and relevant customer evidence. A partner badge does not replace that review.

What to ask a Microsoft partner today

Before selecting a delivery partner, ask for:

• the active Microsoft designation and account that holds it
• certifications held by the proposed team
• references for a similar workload and sector
• architecture and delivery responsibilities
• security, governance, and operational evidence
• support arrangements after release

That turns a partner credential into one input to a practical delivery decision.