Accelerate 2023 Ultimate Fabric Challenge Winners | FortinetLIVE

Overview This FortinetLIVE segment features interviews with the three top winners of the 2023 Ultimate Fabric Challenge (UFC) Global Championship, held at Accelerate 2023. The UFC is a skills-based competition where participants competed in regional rounds at partner expert summits throughout 2022 before advancing to the global championship.

The Winners Andrea Fidelity, a solution architect, won first place in the UFC Global Championship. Sarah Ryba, a network engineer at Liquid Networks in San Antonio, Texas, placed second. Marvin Carrasco, a business development manager, placed third.

Preparation Strategies All three winners emphasized the importance of hands-on experience with FortiGate devices and leveraging FortiNet's available resources. Andrea highlighted real-life configuration experience as essential, supplemented by the FortiNet Training Institute for learning new products and solutions. Sarah combined extensive experience configuring the FortiNet fabric suite and security fabric with multiple NSC (Fortinet Certified Associate) certifications. She also utilized FortiNet admin guides, product demos, and developer network resources. Marvin similarly relied on varied configuration experience across FortiNet solutions and preparation for NSC exams.

Role of NSC Training in Career Development All three stressed how NSC training and certifications accelerated their careers. Andrea noted it provided foundational cybersecurity knowledge early in her career and enabled her to master new FortiNet security products. Sarah emphasized that Fortinet certifications helped her develop well-rounded technical knowledge, allowing her to better serve customers and suggest relevant FortiNet features. Marvin praised the NSC program as comprehensive and well-designed, covering cybersecurity fundamentals, FortiNet solutions, tools, scripting languages, and real-world integration scenarios.

Advice for Future Competitors The winners unanimously recommended three key points: prepare thoroughly using FortiNet resources, enjoy the competition, and focus on confidence and speed during execution. They noted that all competitors have the capability to complete objectives given available resources—the differentiator is speed and self-assurance. Sarah specifically highlighted that having fun reduces anxiety and improves performance. Marvin encouraged exploring the full FortiNet product portfolio beyond core certifications.