Cloud Native Architecture Migration Strategies

If you’ve been following along, you’ve realized by now that cloud native architectures are fundamentally different than most traditional architectures. Most of the cloud native architectures that we can see in the wild have been built by relatively young companies that began from a zero-legacy state. Architects in more mature organizations are faced with the daunting challenge of building modern systems that exploit the unique characteristics of cloud infrastructure while simultaneously attempting to migrate legacy systems into those same environments, all the while “keeping the lights on.”

Much of the last two years of my career have been spent helping Fortune 500 companies devise cloud native migration strategies, and I’ve built a increasingly large catalog of patterns that have proven useful across multiple systems and industry verticals. In this session we’ll dive into those patterns and more, including:

  • the utility of cloud native maturity models
  • the cloud continuum: cloud ready, cloud friendly, cloud resilient, cloud native
  • the app continuum: evolving toward distributed systems
  • criteria for selecting applications to migrate
  • the occasionally palatable perils of “lift and shift”
  • applying the Strangler Pattern
  • leveraging strategic domain-driven design: bounded contexts, context maps, and anti-corruption layers
  • insulating from “irreplaceable” legacy systems of record with hexagonal architecture

The learner should leave this session with a tool belt suitable for attacking an upcoming cloud native architecture migration effort.


About Matt Stine

My passion is taking a metaphysical approach to software engineering: what is the nature of the collaborative game that we continuously play, and are there better, more contextually-aware ways to play that game?

By day I lead a team tasked with taking a first-principles-centric approach to intentionally enabling programming language usage at the largest bank in the United States.

By night I write and teach my way through a masterclass in software engineering and architecture targeting early-career software engineers working in large-scale enterprise technology organizations.

What is the primary goal?

To win the game. More seriously: to get 1% better every day at providing business value through software.

Who am I?

I'm a 22-year veteran of the enterprise software industry. I've played almost every role I can imagine:

  • Software Engineer
  • Software Architect
  • Technical Lead
  • Engineering Manager
  • Consultant
  • Product Manager
  • Field CTO
  • Developer Advocate
  • Conference Speaker
  • Author
  • Technical Trainer
  • Technical Marketer
  • Site Reliability Engineer
  • Desktop Support Specialist

I've worked at Fortune 500 companies, a tenacious teal cloud startup, and a not-for-profit children's hospital. I've written a book, and I've hosted a podcast. I've learned a lot along the way, including many things I wish I'd known when I first got started. And so now I want to pass those learnings on to you, especially if you've only just begun your career.

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