AWS Executive in Residence Blog
Minimal Viable Refactoring: The 5 Best Ways to Improve Your App on the Way to the Cloud
by Barb Malik, Principal Tech Delivery Manager, AWS Managed Services Introduction by Mark Schwartz Lift and Shift? Or refactor as you shift? This question comes up often in our conversations with enterprise leaders. To make the most of the cloud, legacy applications would need to be updated to take advantage of the cloud’s unique capabilities—become […]
The Frozen Middle—Part Two: Thawing
In my previous post I talked about the presumed challenge of the “frozen middle”—the middle managers who seem to resist transformation even when both the leaders of the organization and the hands-on executors want to see it happen. In that post I discussed the changing role of middle management and the critical role middle managers […]
The Frozen Middle—Part One: Understanding
First in a two-part series In many of our conversations with customers, we hear talk of a “frozen middle”—middle managers in IT who are reluctant to change and either block or slow down attempts at transformation. The idea is that senior leadership wants to gain the benefits of the cloud and digital transformation while line […]
Addressing the Digital Workforce Gap through Diversity and Inclusion
A frequent topic in our conversations with enterprise leaders is just how difficult it is to find people with the right skills for the digital age. We often suggest that their go-to-strategy should be to grow talent internally, developing the skills of people they already employ (an earlier blog post covers this subject as well). But […]
Ahead in the Cloud: Don Weinstein of ADP
In this new episode of Ahead in the Cloud, we hear from Don Weinstein, the Corporate Vice President for Global Product and Technology at ADP. Interestingly, by the nature of his business, Don is able to see workplace trends not only in his organization but in those of ADP’s many customers. I’m sure you’ll enjoy […]
Announcing my New Book, War & Peace & IT – a Resource for Enterprise Leaders in the Digital Age
I’m very excited to announce that today is the official publication date of my latest book, War & Peace & IT: Business Leadership, Technology, and Success in the Digital Age. It is intended as the hitherto missing book for senior enterprise executives on how best to work with their technology organizations to accomplish their digital […]
Ahead in the Cloud: Colleen Camuccio of Dow Jones
In our latest “Ahead in the Cloud” post featuring Colleen Camuccio, VP of Program Management at Dow Jones, she explains how the AWS Cloud has helped transform and optimize their customer data platform program, which she directs. Now, she’s looking ahead to more innovation and business value for Dow Jones, leveraging the cloud. As if […]
Ahead in the Cloud: Kareen Boutonnat, Group COO of Lightsource BP
In this next installment of Ahead in the Cloud we talk to Kareen Boutonnat, the COO of Lightsource BP. Earlier in my career I received a piece of advice very similar to the one she mentions: always hire people better than you. It’s important to keep in mind even as we all struggle with a […]
FinDev and Serverless Microeconomics: Part 2 – Impacts
By Aleksandar Simovic Introduction by Mark Schwartz Serverless computing (for example, the capabilities offered by AWS Lambda) is not just a new technology. Its implications—not yet widely understood—include a deep impact on enterprise strategy. Essentially, serverless computing completes the transformation of IT platforms to a utility, something like electricity: whenever you need a little bit […]
How GE Aviation Transformed into an Agile, Cloud-Native-First Software Organization
By Christopher Carissimi, VP of Software Engineering at GE Aviation. Introduction by Mark Schwartz Many enterprises worry about whether they have employees with the right skills for digital transformation and cloud migration. Well, of course they don’t. Any company that wants to “transform”—that is, to do things in a very different way than they have […]









