Portfolio Project #2: Azure Data Stack, CI/CD & DevOps

One of the reasons I chose to make my first portfolio project an analysis of the UK data job market was to understand which skills and tools are actually in demand, so I could focus my learning where it matters most.

The results were clear: Azure’s data ecosystem is dominant across UK roles — particularly Data Factory, Databricks, Synapse and Fabric.

I’ve already had some hands-on experience with Data Factory and Fabric, but Databricks and Synapse are still relatively new to me. So that’s where I’ll be focusing my next stage of upskilling.

I categorised the “other skills” mentioned in job descriptions too, and the areas where I had the least direct experience — but the highest demand — were CI/CD and DevOps. So I’ll be incorporating those into this project as well.

My plan is to get properly familiar with these technologies and then decide how best to demonstrate them in a project — either by expanding the job market insights I’ve already built, or by creating something entirely new that showcases these tools in a meaningful way.

If you’re interested in the next stage of this project, I’ll be posting updates as I go.