The Azure Cloud Resume Challenge turns Azure fundamentals into a portfolio project: publish a resume as a static website, add a visitor counter backed by an API and database, then automate testing and deployment. AZ-900 can provide the starting vocabulary, but this is a hands-on build—not an AZ-900 study course or a promise of employment.
What the Azure Cloud Resume Challenge asks you to build
The Azure edition is intended to connect cloud fundamentals with a working software project. Its required outcome is more than a certificate or a static HTML page: it combines a public resume site with a database-backed visitor counter and an automated deployment workflow.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The official instructions prescribe a sequence and example technologies. They do not establish that any particular author has implemented or tested those components. The outlined architecture is:
- Create the resume: Write the content in HTML and style it with CSS.
- Host the site: Use Azure Storage static website hosting.
- Serve it securely on a custom domain: Configure HTTPS through Azure CDN and set DNS records to point the domain to the CDN endpoint.
- Add a visitor counter: Use JavaScript in the page to call an HTTP API. The API sits between the browser and the database; the page should not connect directly to Cosmos DB.
- Implement the API: The suggested Azure services are an Azure Function with an HTTP trigger and Cosmos DB Table API. The challenge calls for writing the function in Python.
- Add quality and delivery practices: Write tests, define infrastructure with an ARM template, keep frontend and backend in separate source repositories, and use GitHub Actions to deploy both.
- Explain the work: Write a blog post about what you learned.
These are the challenge’s Azure-specific choices, not a claim that they are the only possible architecture. The challenge FAQ says builders may use different providers and tools when they meet the objective of each step.
#1 Best Overall
How AZ-900 fits—and what it does not prove
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) is a beginner-level certification covering cloud concepts, core Azure services, and Azure management and governance. Microsoft lists the exam’s assessed areas as cloud concepts, Azure architecture and services, and Azure management and governance. Its certification page, updated July 20, 2026, lists a 45-minute exam and says the price depends on the country or region. Check Microsoft’s Azure Fundamentals certification page for current details, the official study guide, and the practice assessment.
The challenge asks for the AZ-900 certification on the resume, so the certification is part of the project’s framing. But passing the exam and building the project demonstrate different things: the exam validates knowledge against its objectives; the project gives you a place to apply cloud services, application code, testing, infrastructure as code, and deployment automation.
What the architecture teaches
Separate the browser, API, and database
The visitor counter is a useful way to make the architecture concrete. Browser-side JavaScript asks an HTTP endpoint for the count; an Azure Function handles that request and interacts with Cosmos DB. Keeping the database behind the API avoids putting database access details in publicly delivered page code and gives the backend a boundary where access and behavior can be controlled.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteConnect infrastructure to repeatable delivery
An ARM template describes infrastructure as code, while GitHub Actions automates deployment when the site or backend changes. Separate frontend and backend repositories reflect the challenge’s prescribed organization. Together with function tests, these elements help a portfolio show more than a deployed page: they make the infrastructure and delivery process visible.
Choose alternatives by the skill you want to show
If you adapt the reference design, evaluate substitutes against the objective of each step. Compare equivalent services across providers, the expected monthly operating cost at your traffic level, the amount of control versus abstraction, and whether your browser/API/database boundaries remain sound. Most importantly, choose tools that demonstrate skills relevant to the role you are targeting, and be ready to explain the trade-offs.
Cost expectations: treat estimates as estimates
The challenge page says a domain “usually costs about ten bucks to register” and characterizes low-use serverless storage and functions as essentially free or close to free. These are broad estimates, not a dated bill or a guarantee for a particular deployment. Actual cloud charges vary with usage, configuration, region, and current service terms. Estimate your own expected traffic and check current Azure pricing before deployment; the challenge instructions do not provide a dated cost study.
The challenge FAQ says the core steps are free to access. The optional Cloud Resume Challenge Guidebook is additional guidance, not a prerequisite; the official site links a 2025 Azure edition. Check the linked resources page for current information.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11What a finished project can—and cannot—show
The challenge FAQ describes the project as a way to develop familiarity with full-stack development, version control, infrastructure as code, automation, continuous integration and delivery, cloud services and serverless, application security, and networking. A finished site can give you concrete work to discuss in an interview, including how the pieces fit together and why you made particular choices.
Best Value
It is not a substitute for the AZ-900 credential if a role requires that certification, and it does not guarantee a cloud job. Treat it as evidence of applied learning and a source of interview material, not as an employment outcome.
Plan the build around evidence you can explain
As you work through the official Azure challenge instructions, keep notes on the decisions behind the deliverable: which services you deployed, how you handled secrets and permissions, what your tests cover, what broke and how you diagnosed it, and what your bill reflects for your region and usage. Those details make a portfolio account specific and useful; they should come from your own build rather than assumptions about the reference checklist.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
