delaware’s Databricks Champions on valorizing experience

Databricks Champions are a rare breed of certified experts: at the time of writing, the title is held by fewer than 100 people in the entire EMEA region. To become a Databricks Champion, experts must be nominated by their own companies and undergo a 6-month validation program. Key among the main requirements is providing proof of a successful, fully operational Databricks implementation at no fewer than 3 organizations. Since Maarten and David already held these credentials, their validations were completed almost instantly.

Real-life scenarios

“Databricks sees its Champions as an extension of its in-house team,” explains Maarten. “That’s why they demand more than just in-depth technical knowledge; you need to be able to prove you can make the solution work in a real-life scenario, in tandem with lots of other moving parts. Apart from the acknowledgement of expertise, there are lots of benefits to being a Champion, such as being on the front lines of new developments and having a direct priority support line with Databricks.”

Growing the delaware-Databricks team

Databricks Champions come in two flavors, divided by expertise: Developer Champions (David) and Solution Architect Champions (Maarten). “The Databricks competence center at delaware BeLux currently consists of ca. 20 consultants, but we’re constantly coaching and training others to become proficient with the solution as well. Because it offers support for such a wide range of systems, the platform is really booming. Currently, we have successfully completed almost 50 projects – big and small.”

Fantastic frameworks

The secret behind that success rate is – at least in part – due to delaware’s unique approach to frameworks and IP, i.e. collections of Databricks implementation best practices that have been honed over many years of business experience. “Where many implementation experts focus on a specific link in the chain, like data ingestion or processing, we look at the whole picture, and even beyond currently used technologies,” says David. “That’s the advantage of delaware’s broad scope and wide range of expert teams: we always have the one solution that fits an organization’s unique situation.”